Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP)

Lok Janshakti Party, roughly translated as “Party based on people’s manpower” is a regional political party of India, having a prominent presence in the state of Bihar. Its mass base is primarily from the so-called lower-caste and Dalit communities in the state. The party was founded by Indian veteran politician Ram Vilas Paswan, in the year 2000. He headed a break-away faction of members, who split from the Janata Dal (United), in one of the many factionalisms of the Janata Parivar. He formed the pro-poor, pro-oppressed party calling it the Lok Janshakti Party, commonly called the LJP.

Paswan-led LJP performed exceptionally well in the first Lok Sabha elections it contested in the year 2004. In alliance with the Congress and the RJD, the Lok Janshakti Party bagged four Lok Sabha seats. In the next year’s elections to the Bihar Legislative Assembly, the party secured 29 seats, in alliance with the Congress and the RJD. However Paswan lost to Janata dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar in the previous Bihar polls.

Paswan’s party claims to uphold the rights and privileges of the minorities in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Through its policies and schemes for the Dalits, the LJP protects the interests of the minorities in areas such as education, employment, agriculture and other welfare schemes. Paswan’s claims saying, “Main uss ghar mein diya jalane chala hoon, jaha sadiyon se andhera hain” or “I am on a mission to light a lamp in that house where there has been darkness for years”, are famous and well-known among the people. The LJP received a significant boost in 2009, when the Jan Morcha party, led by former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh merged with Paswan’s party, owing to similar ideologies and party positions. However, in a reversal of fate, in the same year, the Jharkhand unit of the Lok Janshakti Party merged with the Congress, citing party infrastructural failure as the primary reason. Presently, the LJP has some presence in the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, besides its presence in Bihar. The National President of the party presently is Ram Vilas Paswan.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Candidate List 2015, Bihar

A.C. No.	A.C. Name	Candidates Name	Phases
138	Bibhutpur	Ramesh Singh	Phase-1
141	Cheria Bariarpur	Anil Choudhary	Phase-1
148	Alauli	Pasupati Kumar Paras	Phase-1
240	Sikandra	Subhash Chandra Bose	Phase-1
131	Kalyanpur	Prince Raj	Phase-1
166	Jamalpur	Engg. Himanshu Kumar	Phase-1
158	Nathnagar	Amar Kushwaha	Phase-1
185	Fatwa	Satyendra Singh	Phase-3
14	Govindganj	Raju Tiwari	Phase-4
44	Tribeniganj	Vijay Paswan	Phase-5
		More...

Election Symbol and its Significance

The Election Symbol of the Lok Janshakti Party, as approved by the Election Commission of India, is “Bungalow”. The bungalow or a posh house, represents the lavish conditions of survival of those who own it. Only the elite sections of the society can afford to live such a luxurious lifestyle; the poor can only dream about living in a bungalow. The Lok Janshakti Party symbolizes the rights and privileges of a particular section of the society, the downtrodden and the oppressed. In other words, it upholds the conditions of the Dalit communities of Bihar and other regions, their abysmal living conditions and meagre expenses they survive on. The 'Bungalow', here, represents a political and social category of the affluent. The LJP uses this same category, in its bid to promise the so-called lower castes and Dalit communities, that they will ensure that the dream of these downtrodden people, to live in a lavish lifestyle and enjoy the luxuries of life. In other words, this symbol has an inherent metaphoric essence of the ideologies and objectives of the party, rather than a simple representation. Its visual, political and social imageries is portrayed by the party, through the use of 'Bunglow' as a symbol, and hence its immense importance.

Leaders of the Party

The leaders of the Lok Janshakti Party, who are also the national executives of the party, are listed below:

• Ram Vilas Paswan, National President of the LJP
  He is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. In his support to the UPA, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, where the UPA formed the government, Paswan was chosen as the Union Minister in the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers and in the Ministry of Steel, respectively. He is the backbone of the party.
• Ram Chandra Paswan, National Vice-President of the LJP
  He was a Member of Parliament in the 14th Lok Sabha, representing the Rosera constituency of Bihar. He is a very influential member of the Lok Janshakti Party.
• Abdul Khaliq, Secretary General of the LJP
• Surya Narayan Yadav, National Vice-President of the LJP
  He is a former Member of Parliament.
• A.K. Bajpayee, National General Secretary of the LJP
• Suraj Bhan, National Vice-President of the LJP
• Ahmed Ashfaque Karim, National Vice-President of the LJP
• Maheshwar Singh, National Vice-President of the LJP
• P. Chandragesan, National General Secretary of LJP
• Kali Prasad Pandey, National General Secretary of LJP
• Kumar Sarvajit, National Secretary of LJP

Achievements of the LJP

As a regional political party, the Lok Janshakti Party has a number of significant achievements. Some of these are listed below:

• The LJP has a number of prominent frontal organizations under its banner. The youth wing of the party, called the Yuva Lok Janshakti has contributed to protests against issues such as rising unemployment and realized goals like ‘right to work’ in the country. Other frontal organizations including the Janshakti Mazdoor Sabha or the peasants wing of the LJP, the Legal Cell, the Women’s Cell, the Minority Cell and the Chattra Cell have a domineering presence in the state of Bihar.
• It has taken some significant steps to uplift the conditions of the minorities. For example, the Lok Janshakti Party set up the Sachchar Committee to investigate the status of educational and economic conditions of Muslims. Further, the party set up the Ranganath Mishra Commission to recommend measures for the advancement of minorities.
• In minority concentrated blocks, the party set up more than ten thousand primary schools and around 400 schools specifically for girls, calling them the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya. In a further attempt, the LJP arranged for scholarships and students who cleared the matriculation examinations.
• The LJP opposed the introduction of Foreign Direct Investments in the retail sector.
• As a Union Minister in the Ministry of Steel, Paswan increased the revenue of steel PSUs from Rs 5,297 crores in 2003-04 to Rs 20,599 crores in 2007-08. He also set up new steel processing units in various parts of the country such as Guwahati, Kangra, Gwalior and others.

Address and Contact Details

• Official Website of LJP: www.lokjanshaktiparty.in, www.lokjanshaktiparty.org.in
• Head-Office Address of LJP: Lok Janshakti Party, Central Office, 12 Janpath, New Delhi 110011
• Contact Numbers:
  • PHONE: +(91) (011) 23015249, 23014050
  • FAX: +(91) (011) 23017681
  • Email Id: [email protected]

LJP Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha Election Results Year Wise

Lok Sabha				Vidhan Sabha
State	Latest Year	Seats Won		Latest Year	Seats Won
Bihar	2019	6		2020	1
Manipur	2019	0		2017	1