# Janata Dal (Secular)

The Janata Dal (Secular) (transl. People's Party (Secular); abbr. JD(S)) is an Indian political party recognised as a state party in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. It was founded by the former prime minister of India H. D. Deve Gowda in July 1999 as a breakaway faction from the Janata Dal.

## History

The Janata Dal (Secular), formed in 1999, had its origins in the Janata Party, founded in 1977 as a coalition of several smaller parties that combined forces to oppose the Indian National Congress. In 1988 the Janata Party and other smaller parties merged to form the Janata Dal. In 1996, Janata Dal reached its pinnacle when H. D. Deve Gowda became Prime Minister of India, heading the United Front (UF) coalition government.
The Janata Dal split in 1999, when a faction led by Chief Minister J. H. Patel lent support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance leading to the formation of Janata Dal (Secular) under H. D. Deve Gowda and Siddaramaiah. The Sharad Yadav faction of the Janata Dal, the Lok Shakti and the Samata Party merged as the Janata Dal (United). Even though the premise for the split was its opposition to allying with the National Democratic Alliance, H. D. Deve Gowda stayed equally away from the Indian National Congress from the outset.
The 2004 Karnataka Assembly election witnessed the revival of the party's fortunes with JD(S) becoming part of the ruling coalition in the state.
On 14 April 2015, the JD(S), Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Indian National Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party, and Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) announced that they would merge into a new national Janata Parivar alliance in order to oppose the BJP, thus leaving the UPA. It has a political presence mainly in Karnataka and is in decline. In September 2023, JD(S) joined the BJP controlled National Democratic Alliance. In Kerala, the party had a small state unit which is part of the state government coalition, the Left Democratic Front. The state unit has refused to be part of the right wing NDA and are in rebellion against their national leadership for having joined hands with the BJP.

## Prominent members

* H. D. Deve Gowda, President of Janata Dal (Secular), Former Prime Minister of India and Former Chief minister of Karnataka
* H. D. Kumaraswamy, Union Minister of Heavy Industries of Government of India, Former Chief Minister of Karnataka and Karnataka State President of Janata Dal (Secular)
* H. D. Revanna, former cabinet minister, present MLA, Karnataka (son of H. D. Deve Gowda).
* Nikhil Gowda, state president, Yuva Janata Dal (Secular)
* B. M. Farooq, current MLC of Karnataka Legislative Council, current national general secretary of Janata Dal (Secular)
* C. S. Puttaraju, former minister for small irrigation resources, and former member of parliament, Lok Sabha from Mandya
* GT Devegowda, former minister for higher education, and member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Chamundeshwari (Vidhana Sabha constituency
* Oommen Thalavady, former MLA Kuttanad, Kerala Legislative Assembly
* Sarekoppa Bangarappa, former chief minister of Karnataka
* N. M. Joseph, vice president of Janata Dal (Secular)
* D. Kupendra Reddy, Former MP of Rajya Sabha
* Mathew T. Thomas, Kerala State president of Janata Dal (Secular) and former Kerala State minister
* Jose Thettayil, vice president of Janata Dal (Secular), former minister Govt. of Kerala.
* Neelalohithadasan Nadar, former Kerala State president of Janata Dal (Secular) (former minister Govt. of Kerala; former member of Parliament, Govt. of India)
* K. Krishnankutty, current Kerala State minister for electricity department

## Electoral performance
### Assembly election history in Karnataka

| Year | Seats contested | Seats won | +/- | Voteshare (%) | +/- (pp) | Outcome |
| 1999 | 203 | 10 / 224 | 10 | 10.42 | 10.42 | Opposition |
| 2004 | 220 | 58 / 224 | 48 | 20.77 | 10.35 | Government |
| 2008 | 219 | 28 / 224 | 30 | 18.96 | 1.81 | Opposition |
| 2013 | 222 | 40 / 224 | 12 | 20.09 | 1.13 | Opposition |
| 2018 | 199 | 37 / 224 | 3 | 18.3 | 1.79 | Government, later Opposition |
| 2023 | 209 | 19 / 224 | 18 | 13.29 | 5.01 | Opposition |

### Assembly election history in Kerala

| Year | Assembly election | Seats contested | Seats won | Votes secured | Percentage of votes |
| 2001 | 11th Assembly | 12 | 3 | 546,917 | 3.48% |
| 2006 | 12th Assembly | 7 | 5 | 353,111 | 2.27% |
| 2011 | 13th Assembly | 5 | 4 | 264,631 | 1.52% |
| 2016 | 14th Assembly | 5 | 3 | 293,274 | 1.5% |
| 2021 | 15th Assembly | 4 | 2 | 265,789 | 1.28% |

### Lok Sabha election history

| Year | Lok Sabha election | Seats contested | Seats won | Votes secured |
| 1999 | 13th Lok Sabha | 96 | 1 | 33,32,702 |
| 2004 | 14th Lok Sabha | 43 | 3 | 57,32,296 |
| 2009 | 15th Lok Sabha | 21 | 3 | 33,35,530 |
| 2014 | 16th Lok Sabha | 26 | 2 | 37,10,060 |
| 2019 | 17th Lok Sabha | 8 | 1 | 33,97,229 |
| 2024 | 18th Lok Sabha | 3 | 2 | 22,16,350 |

## Legislative leaders
### List of union cabinet ministers

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Portfolio | Term in office | Term in office | Term in office | Elected constituency (House) | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Portfolio | Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | Elected constituency (House) | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| 1 | | H. D. Kumaraswamy (b. 1959) | Ministry of Heavy Industries | 9 June 2024 | Incumbent | 281 days | Mandya (Lok Sabha) | Narendra Modi | |
| 1 | | H. D. Kumaraswamy (b. 1959) | Ministry of Steel | 9 June 2024 | Incumbent | 281 days | Mandya (Lok Sabha) | Narendra Modi | |

### List of chief ministers
#### Chief Ministers of Karnataka

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term in office | Term in office | Term in office | Assembly (Election) | Elected constituency | Ministry |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | Assembly (Election) | Elected constituency | Ministry |
| 1 | | H. D. Kumaraswamy (b. 1959) | 3 February 2006 | 8 October 2007 | 2 years, 308 days | 12th (2004) | Ramanagara | Kumaraswamy I |
| 1 | | H. D. Kumaraswamy (b. 1959) | 23 May 2018 | 23 July 2019 | 2 years, 308 days | 15th (2018) | Channapatna | Kumaraswamy II |

### List of deputy chief ministers
#### Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term in office | Term in office | Term in office | Assembly (Election) | Elected constituency | Chief Minister | Chief Minister |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | Assembly (Election) | Elected constituency | Chief Minister | Chief Minister |
| 1 | | Siddaramaiah (b. 1947) | 28 May 2004 | 5 August 2005 | 1 year, 69 days | 12th (2004) | Chamundeshwari | Dharam Singh | |
| 2 | | M. P. Prakash (1940–2011) | 8 August 2005 | 28 January 2006 | 173 days | 12th (2004) | Hoovina Hadagali | Dharam Singh | |