NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which traces its origin to the erstwhile Jan Sangh Party is contesting 450 seats to the lower house of the Indian Parliament in the forthcoming general elections hoping to be catapulted to power on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue.

Buoyed by its performance in the 1989 polls when its score shot up to 86 from mere two in 1984 the BJP is appealing to voters to elect it to ensure a stable government.

The dispute over the party’s symbol was settled Tuesday evening with the election commission retaining the Lotus. Congress (I) leader Arjun Singh had petitioned the commission for de-recognition of the party and freezing of its symbol.

But the party had made it clear that it was prepared for any eventuality and would seek the mandate of the people on the issue before the commission. It had also said it would fight the polls on a different symbol if the election commission were to uphold Singh’s petition even if it meant immense financial loss and inconvenience.

The party formed on April 6 1980 has gained from strength to strength in states as well. It could not form a government in a single state when it contested assembly polls in 1985 but swept to power in three states—Madhya Pradesh Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan in central northern and western India respectively the 1989 elections.

It won 220 out of 320 seats in Madhya Pradesh 44 of 68 seats in Himachal and 86 out of 200 seats in Rajasthan.

In Rajasthan and Gujarat the party formed governments in alliance with Janata Dal party of former premier V P Singh but parted ways later when BJP leader L.K.Advani was arrested.

This led to the BJP withdrawing support to the Janata Dal government in Gujarat and the Janata Dal a minor partner in Rajasthan government withdrawing from the state government. The BJP government in Rajasthan managed to survive with the help of a splinter Janata Dal (D).

The BJP also put up an impressive electoral performance in assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in the north and eastern state of Bihar getting 57 and 37 seats. It also made a dent in the south getting 4 seats in Kamataka and 5 in Andhra the BJP became the main opposition party in Parliament after the fall of the V.P Singh government.

The BJPs predecessor the Bharatiya Jan Sangh formed in 1952 had steadily increased its strength in Parliament till 1971. In the fourth general election the party put up its most impressive performance winning 32 of 251 seats it contested getting 9.7% votes. In the 71 polls BJPs percentage came down to 7.4 with the party getting 22 seats.

In 1977 the Jan Sangh was a major constituent of the Janata Party which won the sixth general elections under the Janata Party symbol.. Following a split in the Janata Party in 1980 the BJP was formed under A B Vajpayee.

Recently several retired civil servants and former rulers joined the party. Prominent among them are former comptroller and auditor general T.N.Chaturvedi former Uttar Pradesh director general of police S.C.Dixit and former Maharaja of Mysore Srikantadatta Wodeyar a Congress (I) member of the last Lok Sabha.

Former party president L.K.Advani is tipped as the party’s prime ministerial candidate.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 26, 1991