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The Janata Dal was created by the merger
of the Janata Party led by Subramanian Swamy, Lok Dal led by Ajit Singh and Jan
Morcha led by V P Singh in October 1988. Earlier the Janata Party had been
formed with the merger of several political groupings after they returned on
trouncing the Congress in 1977. The Lok Dal was formed in 1979 after the Janata
Party split in 1979. The Jan Morcha was formed by Congress dissidents led by VP
Singh in 1987. The Janata Dal won an overwhelming 141 seats from the total 144
by the National Front, which included the Left Parties as well. V P Singh became
the Prime Minister with the BJP's support, but lasted less than a year as the
latter withdrew support.
The Janata Dal split and Chandra Shekhar formed the
government at the Centre, this time with the Congress' support. Another split
happened in 1994 with George Fernandes taking along his flock to form the Samata
Party. What remained of the Janata Dal became the nucleus of the government that
was formed in May 1996 with support from the Congress. In quick succession H D
Deve Gowda and I K Gujral held offices of the Prime Minister, before the
Congress withdrew support in November 1996. The Janata Dal had already split
earlier when Laloo Prasad Yadav, charged with fodder scam cases in Bihar, formed
his own outfit, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, on being removed from the party.
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