Editing Bharatiya Janata Party (section)

=== Janata Party (1977–80) ===
{{Main|Janata Party}}
In 1975, Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] imposed a [[The Emergency (India)|state of emergency]]. The Jana Sangh took part in the widespread protests, with thousands of its members being imprisoned along with other agitators across the country. In 1977, the emergency was withdrawn and general elections were held. The Jana Sangh merged with parties from across the political spectrum, including the [[Socialist Party (India)|Socialist Party]], the [[Indian National Congress (Organisation)|Congress (O)]] and the [[Bharatiya Lok Dal]] to form the Janata Party, with its main agenda being defeating Indira Gandhi.{{sfn|Guha|2007|p=136}} The Janata Party won a majority in 1977 and formed a government with [[Morarji Desai]] as Prime Minister. The former Jana Sangh contributed the largest tally to the Janata Party's parliamentary contingent, with 93 seats or 31% of its strength. [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee]], previously the leader of the Jana Sangh, was appointed the [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Minister of External Affairs]].{{sfn|Guha|2007|pp=538–540}}

The national leadership of the former Jana Sangh consciously renounced its identity, and attempted to integrate with the political culture of the Janata Party, based on Gandhian and Hindu traditionalist principles. Political scientist [[Christophe Jaffrelot]] wrote that this proved to be impossible assimilation.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp=282–283}} The state and local levels of the Jana Sangh remained relatively unchanged, retaining a strong association with the RSS, which did not sit well with the moderate centre-right constituents of the Party.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp=292–301, 312}} [[Religious violence in India|Violence between Hindus and Muslims]] increased sharply during the years that the Janata Party formed the government, with former Jana Sangha members being implicated in the riots in [[Aligarh]] and [[Jamshedpur]] in 1978–79.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The other major constituents of the Janata Party demanded that the former  Jana Sangh members should dissociate themselves from the RSS, which they  refused to do. Eventually, a fragment of the Janata Party broke off to form the [[Janata Party (Secular)]]. The [[Premiership of Morarji Desai|Morarji Desai government]] was reduced to a minority in the Parliament, forcing Desai's resignation. Following a brief period of coalition rule, general elections were held in 1980, in which the Janata Party fared poorly, winning only 31 seats. In April 1980, shortly after the elections, the National Executive Council of the Janata Party banned its members from being 'dual members' of party and the RSS. In response, the former Jana Sangh members left to create a new political party, known as the Bharatiya Janata Party.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|1996|pp=301–312}}{{sfn|Guha|2007|pp=538–540}}