Janata Dal (United)
Party nameJanata Dal (United)
Party logoJanata Dal (United) Flag.svg
AbbreviationJD(U)
PresidentNitish Kumar
Rajyasabha leaderSanjay Kumar Jha
Loksabha leaderDileshwar Kamait
Founder
Foundation30 October 2003[a]
Merger
Alliance

National Alliance:

  • NDA (2003–2013, 2017–2022, since 2024)

Regional Alliances:

  • NEDA (2017–2022, since 2024)
State seats nameState Legislative Assemblies
IdeologySocial democracy
Secularism
PositionCentre[1]
Headquarters7, Jantar Mantar Road, New Delhi, India-110001
EciState Party:
Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur
PublicationJD(U) Sandesh
Websitejdu.org.in
YouthYuva JD(U)
StudentsChhatra Janata Dal (U)

Janata Dal (United) (JD(U), lit. 'People's Party (United)'), is a social democratic[2][3][4] and secular[5][6] Indian political party, rooted mainly in eastern and north-eastern India,[7] whose stated goals are promoting social justice and lifting up marginalised people.[8] JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh & Manipur where they are in coalition government. [9][10][11] JD(U), as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, won 12 seats in the 2024 Indian general election, making it the seventh largest party in the Lok Sabha.

JD(U) was formed with the merger of Sharad Yadav's faction of the Janata Dal, the Samata Party and the Lok Shakti party on 30 October 2003. The party's mentor and patron was the veteran socialist George Fernandes, successively leader of the Samyukta Socialist Party, the Socialist Party and the Samata Party.[12] However, the Election Commission of India initially refused the merger of the latter: party president Brahmanand Mandal was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and not physically well, so Uday Mandal replaced him.[13][14][15]

History

Formation

The Janata Dal (United)'s origin goes back to the period before 1999 General Election. A faction led by then Chief Minister of Karnataka J. H. Patel had lent support to the National Democratic Alliance, leading to the split in the Janata Dal and the formation of Janata Dal (Secular) under H. D. Deve Gowda, who wanted to remain equidistant from both national parties; and Janata Dal under Sharad Yadav was called Janata Dal (United).[16][b]

The Janata Dal (United) was formed with the merger of the Sharad Yadav faction of the Janata Dal, the Lok Shakti and the Samata Party.[17] On 30 October 2003, the Samata Party led by George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar merged with the Janata Dal. The merged entity was called Janata Dal (United) with the arrow symbol of Janata Dal (United) and the green and white flag of the Samata Party.[12] The uniting force is believed to be common opposition to Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar especially after the Rashtriya Janata Dal welcomed Samata Party rebels like Raghunath Jha into the party.

In NDA

JD(U) joined NDA and along with its alliance partner, the BJP defeated the RJD-led UPA government in Bihar in November 2005. The new government was headed by JD(U) leader, Nitish Kumar and NDA continued to govern state. The alliance contested 2009 Indian general election and won 32 seats. BJP won 12 while JD(U) won 20.[18] JD(U) won 115 and BJP won 91 seats in 2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election. Thus together holding 206 seats in 243 member Bihar Legislative Assembly.

Out of NDA

JD(U) broke its 17 years old alliance with the BJP in Bihar in protest against the elevation of Narendra Modi as ahead of the election campaign committee of BJP for 2014 Indian general election. JD(U) President Sharad Yadav and then Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced their end of coalition at a press conference on 16 June 2013, exactly a week after Narendra Modi was made the BJP's campaign committee chairman, who was later made the prime ministerial candidate of NDA. Just after this split, Sharad Yadav relinquished his position as the NDA convenor.[19]

The JD(U) contested the election in Bihar in an alliance with the Communist Party of India but they won only two seats out of total forty seats of Bihar while the BJP-LJP alliance won 31 seats.[18][20][21] Following poor performance in election, Nitish Kumar resigned as Chief Minister of Bihar and Jitan Ram Manjhi sworn in as a new Chief Minister. When the trust vote was demanded by the BJP to prove majority in Bihar Legislative Assembly, the RJD supported the JD(U) in the assembly on 23 May 2014 to pass the majority mark.[22]

The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance)

On 29 December 2014, Kerala-based Socialist Janata (Democratic) merged with the JD(U) with its leader M.P. Veerendra Kumar, accepting the party flag from JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar. This was an important milestone in bringing a pan-Indian appeal to the JD(U) which is largely limited to the state of Bihar.[23]

On 9 May, MLA Jitan Ram Manjhi was expelled from the JD(U) and he later founded the Hindustani Awam Morcha along with 17 other dissent JD(U) MLAs.[24]

In the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election JD(U) contested the election in an alliance with the RJD and Congress. It won 71 seats out of the 101 seats it contested and the alliance won 178 seats out the 243 seats in the assembly. Subsequently, Nitish Kumar again became the Chief Minister of Bihar.[25]

In the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha held in March 2016, the ruling UDF of Kerala state gave one seat to JD(U) Kerala State Unit President M.P. Veerendra Kumar. In spite of having just 2 MLAs in the Legislative Assembly, the Congress gave a berth to its ally.[26]

Alliance with NDA

On 26 July 2017 5 pm, Nitish Kumar tendered his resignation as Chief Minister of Bihar, ending 20-month-old Mahgathbandhan (grand alliance) rule. The next day on 27 July 2017 10 am he again took oath as Chief Minister of Bihar with the support of BJP. Same day evening, Kerala JD(U) chief M.P. Veerendra Kumar announced the split of Kerala unit of the JD(U) from the party, due to Nitish Kumar led Bihar unit joined hands with the BJP.[27] On 28 July 2017, new NDA government won trust vote in Bihar assembly by 131 votes in favour and 108 against, four legislators did not vote.[28]

Out of NDA

On 9 August 2022, Nitish Kumar announced that the JD(U)'s alliance with the BJP in the Bihar Legislative Assembly was over.[29] He further made a claim that the new government in Bihar, a coalition of nine parties including the RJD and the INC would be a "Mahagathgandhan 2.0."

Reorganisation after 2020 Assembly elections

The JD(U), just like its parent Samata Party, had the core support of Kushwaha and Kurmi caste, which emanated from the great rally organised in 1993 at Gandhi Maidan, Patna. In 2020 Assembly elections, the party performed badly, and its seats in Bihar Legislative Assembly reduced to 43 from 75 in 2015 elections. The breakaway of the faction led by Upendra Kushwaha, who founded Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, was recognised as one of the principal reason behind reduction in support base of the party in many constituencies. In a bid to retain its support amongst its core vote base, the party made several organisational changes, like appointing Ramchandra Prasad Singh as national president of the party and Umesh Kushwaha as the state president. Meanwhile, it also tried to give effect to the merger of the Upendra Kushwaha led RLSP with itself. The RLSP was formed as a result of a split in JD(U) in 2013. Immediately after the merger, Upendra Kushwaha was made president of parliamentary board of the party.[30][31]

On 20 February 2023, Upendra Kushwaha resigned from the post of president of parliamentary committee of JDU and membership of Bihar Legislative Council and formed another party named Rashtriya Lok Morcha as a breakaway faction of JDU.[32]

However, Umesh Kushwaha, who was re-elected to the post of party's state chief in November 2022, continued to serve party in that position for the second term.[33]

2024 Lok Sabha elections

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, JDU was granted 16 seats against Bharatiya Janata Party's 17 seats and it contested in alliance with BJP and Chirag Paswan led Lok Janashakti Party (Ram Vilas). It won 12 seats in this election and played an important role in the formation of the Third Modi government. With this victory, JDU changed the narrative that it has been weakened over the time under the leadership of Nitish Kumar with latter's growing age and lack of a next generation of leaders in the party.[34]

This election also revealed JDU's hold and support base amongst the members of Extremely Backward Castes, which turned out to be the reason behind party's spectacular performance in the constituencies dominated by them.[35] In order to consolidate its support base amongst the different caste groups, JDU appointed Dileshwar Kamait, a member of Extremely Backward Caste as its leader of parliamentary party in 18th Lok Sabha, Sanjay Kumar Jha was appointed as leader of parliamentary party in Rajya Sabha after the 2024 general elections.[36]

Subsequently, Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur were made union ministers in Third Modi government from the JDU.[37]

2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly election

In the 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, JD(U) contested the election in an alliance with the BJP, HAM (S) and RLM. It won 85 seats out of the 101 seats it contested with the BJP emerging as the single largest party and winning 89 seats. The alliance won 202 seats out the 243 seats in the assembly. Subsequently, Nitish Kumar again became the Chief Minister of Bihar. After Kumar announced his pending resignation in order to contest the 2026 Rajya Sabha elections, his son Nishant joined the JD(U) in March; this was seen as a departure from his previous policy of anti-dynasticism.[38]

Electoral performance

Lok Sabha elections

Lok SabhaElectionSeats
contested		Seats
won		Votes Polled% of
votes		State (seats)Ref.
14th Lok Sabha20047391,44,9632.53Bihar (6)
Lakshadweep(1)
Uttar Pradesh(1)		[39]
15th Lok Sabha20092759,36,7861.5Bihar (20)[39]
16th Lok Sabha20149359,92,2811.08Bihar (2)[39]
17th Lok Sabha20192489,26,6791.45Bihar(16)[39] [1]
18th Lok Sabha20241680,25,0001.25Bihar(12)[39]

Assembly elections

Vidhan SabhaAssembly ElectionSeats ContestedSeats Won% of votes% of votes in
seats contested		Party VotesRef.
Bihar Legislative Assembly
12th Vidhan Sabha2005 February13814.5526.413,564,930[40]
13th Vidhan Sabha2005 October13920.4637.414,819,759[40]
14th Vidhan Sabha201014422.5838.776,561,906[40]
15th Vidhan Sabha201510116.840.656,416,414[40]
16th Vidhan Sabha202011515.3932.836,485,179[40]
17th Vidhan Sabha202510019.259,667,118
Jharkhand Legislative Assembly
2nd Vidhan Sabha2005184.0
3rd Vidhan Sabha2009142.78285,565
4th Vidhan Sabha2014110.96133815
5th Vidhan Sabha2019450.73110120[41]
6th Vidhan Sabha202420.8136.69145,040[41]
Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
7th2019149.8961,324[citation needed]
Manipur Legislative Assembly
13th20223810.77200,100[citation needed]

Prominent members

List of chief ministers

Chief ministers of Bihar

NoNameConstituencyTerm of officeTenure lengthAssemblyMinistry
1Nitish KumarMLC24 November 200526 November 201014thNitish Kumar II
26 November 201020 May 201415thNitish Kumar III
2Jitan Ram ManjhiMakhdumpur20 May 201422 February 20150Manjhi
(1)Nitish KumarMLC22 February 201520 November 2015Nitish Kumar IV
20 November 201526 July 201716thNitish Kumar V
26 July 201716 November 2020Nitish Kumar VI
16 November 20209 August 202217thNitish Kumar VII
9 August 202231 January 2024Nitish Kumar VIII
31 January 202420 November 2025Nitish Kumar IX
20 November 202514 April 202618thNitish Kumar X

List of ministers in union government

No.PortraitPortfolioName
(Birth–Death)		Term in officeConstituency
(House)		Prime Minister of India
Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office
1Minister of DefenceGeorge Fernandes
(1930–2019)		15 October 200122 May 2004'Nalanda
(Lok Sabha)		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
2Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public DistributionSharad Yadav
(1947–2023)		1 July 200222 May 2004'Madhepura
(Lok Sabha)
3Minister of RailwaysNitish Kumar
(born 1951)		20 March 200122 May 2004'Barh
(Lok Sabha)
4Minister of External Affairs
(MoS)		Digvijay Singh
(1955–2010)		1 July 200222 May 2004'Banka
(Lok Sabha)
5Minister of SteelRamchandra Prasad Singh
(born 1958)		7 July 20216 July 2022'Bihar
(Rajya Sabha)		Narendra Modi
6Minister of Panchayati RajLalan Singh
(born 1955)		10 June 2024Incumbent'Munger
(Lok Sabha)
Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
7Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
(MoS)		Ram Nath Thakur
(born 1950)		Bihar
(Rajya Sabha)

List of current Rajya Sabha members

No.ImageNameDate of appointmentDate of retirementDuration
1Ram Nath Thakur10 Apr 202010 Apr 2026
2Sanjay Kumar Jha3 Apr 20244 Apr 2030
3Harivansh Narayan Singh
(Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha)		10 Apr 202010 Apr 2026
4Khiru Mahto8 July 20227 July 2028

List of current Lok Sabha members

No.ImageNameConstituency
1Lalan SinghMunger
2Giridhari YadavBanka
3Ajay Kumar MandalBhagalpur
4Sunil KumarValmiki Nagar
5Lovely AnandSheohar
6Devesh Chandra ThakurSitamarhi
7Dileshwar KamaitSupaul
8Vijay Lakshmi KushwahaSiwan
9Alok Kumar SumanGopalganj
10Kaushalendra KumarNalanda
11Dinesh Chandra YadavMadhepura
12Ramprit MandalJhanjharpur

National presidents

No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)		Term in office
Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office
1Sharad Yadav
(1947–2023)		30 October 200310 April 2016
2Nitish Kumar
(born 1951)		10 April 201627 December 2020
3Ramchandra Prasad Singh
(born 1958)		27 December 202031 July 2021
4Lalan Singh
(born 1955)		31 July 202129 December 2023
(2)Nitish Kumar
(born 1951)		29 December 2023Incumbent

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Official date celebrated by party. But ECI given this name in 4 August 1999
  2. ^ 4 August, 1999: The Election Commission issued an order freezing the original "Chakra (Wheel)" symbol of the Janata Dal. To resolve the immediate need for election identities for the upcoming general election, the ECI granted "ad-hoc recognition" to the two splinter groups: The Sharad Yadav-led faction was designated as Janata Dal (United). The H.D. Deve Gowda-led faction was designated as Janata Dal (Secular).

References

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