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BJP emerges as a major force in Bihar

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which started out as a nonentity in 1984 in Bihar, has slowly emerged as a major force with 20 seats to its credit in the 1998 Lok Sabha poll.

The party opened its account in the state during the 1989 general election by winning nine out of 25 seats it had contested in alliance with the Janata Dal. The party had got 12.98 per cent of the votes.

In the 1991 parliamentary election, the BJP fought alone and contested 51 of the 54 seats but could win only five. Its vote percentage, however, jumped to 16.91.

The party entered into an electoral understanding with the Samata Party for the first time in the state for the 1996 general election by giving 22 seats to its partner. The party won 18 Lok Sabha seats from the state during that election. Its voting percentage went up to 20.54.

The electoral understanding proved beneficial for the party in the subsequent elections in the state.

The party managed to win 20 of the 32 seats it had contested in alliance with the Samata Party in the 1998 Lok Sabha poll. The two parties had extended tacit support to senior Janata Dal leaders - Ramvilas Paswan and Sharad Yadav -- in that election. The party's vote percentage went up to 24.03.

The election this time is also likely to witness similar understanding with other parties including the Janata Dal-United. But the scenario might change as the Janata Dal-United has become a major player in the scene after its merger with the Samata Party.

Before the formation of the BJP in 1980, its senior leaders contested under different banners -- Jan Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal and Janata Party.

In the 1953 and 1957 general elections, Jan Sangh contested two seats each without any success and its vote percentage was less than one per cent.

In the 1962 parliamentary election, Jan Sangh fielded 13 candidates again without success but its vote percentage went up to 2.33.

However, the party's success came in the 1967 election when its only candidate Beni Shanker Verma won from the Banka constituency. The party had contested 48 seats and its vote percentage increased to 11. Two Jan Sangh members won in the 1971 general election while its vote percentage went up to 12.09.

In the 1977 general election after Emergency, the entire Opposition constituting the Janata Party and its members swept the polls and won 52 of the 54 seats. Eight erstwhile Jan Sangh leaders also emerged victorious.

The party again contested the 1980 general election under the Janata Party's banner and three of its candidates had emerged successful. Five other JP candidates had won the election.

UNI

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