Status[edit]

In the run-up to the 1980 elections, the remaining Janata party leaders tried unsuccessfully to rebuild the party and make fresh alliances. Desai campaigned for the party but did not himself stand for election, preferring retirement from politics. The Congress (I) capitalized on the aversion of the Indian public to another fragile and dysfunctional government by campaigning on the slogan "Elect A Government That Works!"^[16] Indira Gandhi apologized for mistakes made during the Emergency and won the endorsement of respected national leaders such as Vinoba Bhave. At the polls, the candidates running under the Janata ticket were resoundingly defeated – the party lost 172 seats, winning only 31. Indira Gandhi and the Congress (I) returned to power with a strong majority. Sanjay Gandhi was also elected to the Parliament. President Reddy was succeeded at the end of his term in 1982 by Congress (I) leader Zail Singh.(RUPPS).


Between 1980 and 1989, the Janata party maintained a small presence in the Indian Parliament under the leadership of socialist politician Chandra Sekhar.^[51] In 1988, Lok Dal (A) was merged into Janata Party and Ajit Singh was made its president.^[52] After some months, it merged into the Janata Dal, which had emerged as the chief opposition party under the leadership of Vishwanath Pratap Singh and the main constituent of the National Front coalition.^[51] Singh had become widely popular for exposing the role of the government of prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the eldest son and successor of Indira, in the Bofors scandal, though on 5 February 2004, the Delhi High Court quashed the charges of bribery against Rajiv Gandhi and others.^[51][53]


But some leaders of Janata Party refused to accept its merger into Janata Dal and continued in Janata Party.^[54][55] These included Indubhai Patel, Subramanian Swamy, Syed Shahabuddin, H. D. Deve Gowda, Sarojini Mahishi.^[54][56] On 4 January 1989, Indubhai Patel was declared as acting president of Janata Party.^[57] Janata Dal filed an application to Election Commission of India to seek the transfer of Janata Party symbol to its own.^[58] But the Election Commission froze the symbol chakra–haldhar for 1989 general election and as a result, Janata Dal had to use wheel as their election symbol.^[59] Janata Party continue to retain its status as unrecognised registered party with Election Commission of India and retains its symbole of chakra-haldhar.^[60]


Under V. P. Singh, the Janata Dal and the National Front sought to replicate the Janata-style alliance of anti-Congress political parties.^[51] Although it failed to win a majority, it managed to form a fragile coalition government with V.P. Singh as the prime minister with the outside support of the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).^[51] However, Singh's government soon fell victim to intra-party rivalries and power struggles, and his successor Chandra Sekhar's Janata Dal (Socialist) government lasted barely into 1991.^[51]