Genesis of Jana Sangh

We marked the 50th anniversary of the Emergency a few days ago. Another anniversary, this time the 75th, went relatively unnoticed. This was of the formation of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, and the reasons for its coming into being.

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On 5 May 1950, SP Mookerjee announced the agenda of the party being formed which had an eight-point programme. These were: 1) United Bharat; 2) reciprocity instead of appeasement towards Pakistan; 3) an independent foreign policy; 4) rehabilitation of refugees; 5) increased production of goods and decentralisation of industry; 6) development of a single Bharatiya culture; 7) equal rights to all citizens and improvement of the backward classes; 8) readjustment of the boundaries of West Bengal and Bihar.

Other than Mookerjee, who was from the Hindu Mahasabha, the structure of the Jana Sangh came from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and today the party remains of course a subsidiary of the mothership. Why did the RSS get into politics? The story is interesting. This is how the Jana Sangh’s official history, published by the BJP a few years ago, explains it.

An RSS rally in Delhi in December 1947 drew a large crowd and also attracted Hindu princes, businessmen and leaders of other Hindu organisations. This popularity was something that alarmed the Congress, especially Nehru, according to the RSS.