NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh will lead the new party formed after the merger of the Janata Parivar comprising the SP, the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata Dal (Secular), the Samajwadi Janata Party and the Indian National Lok Dal.
A six-member committee including former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Lalu Prasad, Sharad Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav will decide on issues such as the name and flag of the new party.The SP has five seats in the Lok Sabha and 15 in the Rajya Sabha. It’s in power in Uttar Pradesh with 232 MLAs in the 403-member Assembly.
On the other hand, the RJD has four Lok Sabha members and one in the Rajya Sabha, while the JD (U) has two in the Lok Sabha and 12 in the Rajya Sabha.
Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) has two seats in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha, while the INLD has two members in the Lower House and one in the Upper House.
In total, the new party will have strength of 15 members in the Lower House and 30 in the Upper House.
The Janata experiment – a timeline:
1977: Morarji Desai becomes Prime Minister, leading the Janata government — India’s first experiment in formation of a coalition government with the coming together of parties such as the Jana Sangh, Congress (Organisation), Congress for Democracy, Bharatiya Kranti Dal. The country sees a first non-Congress government at the Centre. Differences in ideology and party perspectives lead to the collapse of the Janata Party government. In 1980, the Congress is back in power.
1980 – 1984: Indira Gandhi is assassinated in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards. Her son Rajiv Gandhi leads the Congress to victory, becoming India’s youngest Prime Minister.
1984-1989: Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government is in place, but the government is voted out of power following the Bofors scandal.
1989: The formation of the National Front government by V.P. Singh, who leaves the Congress Party in the wake of the Bofors scandal, still remains the defining moment for Indian politics. Led by the Janata Dal, regional parties such as the Telugu Desam Party, the Assam Gana Parishad, the Akali Dal and the National Conference extend outside support in a bid to marginalise the Congress. V.P. Singh, followed by Chandrashekhar, are Prime Ministers in this government. The government falls in 1991 due to the withdrawal of outside support by the BJP. In 1990, violence and protests rock the country against the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report which gave 27 per cent reservation to Other Backward Castes in government jobs.
May 1991 – 1996: Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated in Sriperumbudur during an election campaign and a minority Congress-led government led by P.V. Narasimha Rao comes into power. Along with Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, the Rao government ushers in a series of liberalisation measures that open up the economy. The government is in power till 1996.
By April 1997 the Congress withdraws support and the Deve Gowda government falls. To avoid calling for elections again, the Congress agrees to support a United Front government under a new leader, I.K. Gujral. Gujral’s government is marked by the Fodder Scam in which then Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is implicated. Mr. Yadav refuses to resign and is asked by the Prime Minister to do so. The tainted leader leaves the JD and forms his own party – the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Congress withdraws support to the United Front following their refusal to drop the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from the government and new elections are called.
1996: The Bharatiya Janata Party is the largest party in the Lok Sabha but unable to garner enough support to prove a majority on the floor of the House. A.B. Vajpayee’s 13-day government falls and the Congress supports a government formed by the JD. Along with other smaller regional parties, the United Front government comes to power led by H.D. Deve Gowda. The government falls within 18 months, unable to sustain the various ideologies of the regional parties.
1998-1999: General Elections are held and no party gains a strong majority. The government, led by A.B. Vajpayee falls after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam withdraws support, and elections are held again in 1999. The National Democratic Alliance coalition forms a government along with the Telugu Desam Party and lasts a full term of five years. Sonia Gandhi, a relatively new leader of the Congress at that point, calls for the party to introspect on the election results.
2004 – 2009: This phase represents the golden years of the UPA government. The Congress returns to power after eight years out of office, forming the UPA government, with external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party, the Kerala Congress and the Left Front at different times. In 2009, the Third Front is launched against the economic policies of the Congress and the BJP, and to the cause of the agricultural, working, backward classes and women and minorities. Its members include, among others, the Janata Dal (United) and the Janata Dal (Secular), the Samajwadi Party, the Biju Janata Dal, the BSP, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
2009 – 2014: The two terms of the United Progressive Alliance government see a slew of rights based social sector legislations including the Right to Information, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Right to Education, the Land Acquisition Act, the Criminal Law Amendment Act on laws relating to sexual offences and the Food Security Act. However, the UPA government is beset by allegations of corruption among its senior leaders. The period also marks the rise of anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party.
May 16, 2014: The BJP sweeps to power with a majority of 336 seats, and for the first time since 1984.
April 15, 2015: SP chief Mulayam Singh leads a new party formed after the merger of the Janata Parivar comprising the SP, the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata Dal (Secular), the Samajwadi Janata Party and the Indian National Lok Dal.

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