Famous Political Parties in India And Their Founders
- BJP is the largest political party in India and has its government in 15 states, it was founded in 1980
- At present there are more than 2,800 political parties in India out of which only 8 are national parties
India is the world’s largest democracy. Its democracy constitutes multi-party system and so there are numerous political parties in India. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) there are 2,858 registered parties. It’s interesting to note that only 8 of them are national parties and 54 are state parties. Rest of them are unrecognized. Here are some famous political parties in India with their founders.
BJP Founders (Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani)
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is the largest political party in India. It was founded by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani on 6 April 1980. BJP has its origin in Bharatiya Jana Sangh that was founded by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951. During the emergency of 1975-77 Bhartiya Jana Sangh merged with other political parties and became a Janata Party.
The Janata Party emerged as a powerful party as it defeated the Indian National Congress in 1977 General Elections. In 1980 it was dissolved to form the BJP that we see today. In 1984 elections newly formed BJP won only two seats but it became the largest political party in parliament by 1996. Due to lack of a majority seats its government lasted only for 13 days.
Read More – 7 Most Beautiful BJP Offices In India You Need To See
After 1996, BJP again came in power in 1998 with a government that lasted only for one year. A major blow to the BJP led NDA Government came in 2004 elections. The NDA government saw an unexpected defeat and waited nearly 10 years to come in power. In 2014, NDA government saw a landslide victory under Narendra Modi. With time this party grew and it has close to 200 million members that shows its might.
Congress Political Party Founder – (AO Hume)
INC (Indian National Congress ) is the oldest party in India. Allen Octavian Hume or AO Hume founded it in 1885. In India’s Independence Movement Congress was the principal leader under Mahatma Gandhi. Due to its rich heritage the INC is also known as the “Grand Old Party”. After India’s Independence Congress ruled India for nearly 20 years.
The first major defeat for Congress came from Janata Party in 1977. But again it formed government in 1980 that lasted till 1989. UPA (United Progressive Alliance) is a coalition led by Indian National Congress. There are many famous leaders associated with this party. Here’s a look at some of them.
Important Leaders Of Congress
Trinamool Congress
Also known as All India Trinamool Congress, this party is particularly active in West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee in 1 January 1988. After BJP and INC, TMC is the third largest party in parliament. In 2016, ECI (Election Commission of India) recognised it as a national party.
Mamata Banerjee was a member of Congress for 26 years. Then she quit the party and formed her own party TMC. TMC was also the part of BJP led NDA government but in 2006 it exited from the coalition. Mamata Banerjee and her party is ruling West Bengal state since 2011.
Bahujan Samaj Party Founder – Kanshi Ram
This party has its base in Uttar Pradesh. BSP or Bahujan Samaj Party was founded by Kanshi Ram in April 1984. SC, ST and OBCs appeasement was the main agenda of this party. In 2001, Mayawati succeeded Kanshi Ram as the party’s chief. Both Mayawati and Kanshi Ram got their inspiration from BR Amedkar and Gautama Buddha.
It is interesting to note that BSP was founded on BR Amedkar’s birth anniversary. Initially BSP formed a coalition with Samajwadi Party as Mulayam Singh Yadav as a chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Before her political career Mayawati was a school teacher.
Samajwadi Party Founder – Mulayam Singh Yadav
Another political party active in Uttar Pradesh is the Samajwadi Party. It was founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav in October 1992. In Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi party has formed its government three times. Just few months before the Babri Masjid demolition this party was founded. On 1 January 2017, Mulayam Singh Yadav son Akhilesh Yadav became party chief.
Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017. His father Mulayam Singh Yadav served 3 consecutive terms as a chief minister of the state. His first term started in 1989 then second in 1992 and third in 2002 that lasted till 2007. During Babri Masjid demolition Mulayam Singh Yadav ordered to open fire on karsevaks who were involved in the movement. He died on 10 October 2022.
Communist Party of India Founder – M.N Roy, Abani Mukherji & M. P. T. Acharya
CPI stands for Communist Party of India. It was founded in 1925 by M.N Roy, Abani Mukherji & M. P. T. Acharya. The place where this party was founded is Kanpur. This party is particularly active in Kerala. CPI(M) emerged from this party and in Kerala it has its government. On 7 November 1964 CPI(M) was formed. Here “M” stands for Marxist. Among all the political parties in India CPI(M) is the largest communist party.
AAP Founder – Arvind Kejriwal
AAP stands for Aam Aadmi Party. It was founded by Arvind Kejriwal in 2012. Initially the party was active only in Delhi, in 2022 Punjab elections it formed its government in the state. With anti-corruption movement in 2011 this party came into power. Famous social activist Anna Hazare was with Arvind Kejriwal but he soon broke up with him.
RJD Founder – Lalu Yadav
This political party is particularly active in Bihar. RJD stands for Rashtriya Janata Dal and its founder is Lalu Prasad Yadav. He founded it in 1997. In 2008 Election Commission of India gave this party the status of national level recognised party. However on 30 July 2010 it was derecognised.
It is the single largest political party in Bihar. Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi both became chief minister from this party. Lalu Yadav even became Railway Minister from this party. He was the one who did fodder scam of more than $500 million in 2020. His son Tejashwi Yadav is also in politics.
JMM Founder – Shibu Soren
JMM stands for Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. It was founded in 1972 by Shibu Soren and his two companions Binod Bihari Mahato and Arun Kumar Roy. This party is particularly active in Jharkhand.
Hemant Soren is the chif minister of Jharkhand from this party. On the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda this party was created. In seperating Jharkhand from Bihar, JMM played an important role under the leadership of Shibu Soren.
Shiv Sena Founder – Balasaheb Thackeray
Most popular party of Maharashtra is Shiv Sena. It was founded by Balasaheb Thackeray in 1966. He is considered as one of the greatest politicians in India. Before political career Balasaheb Thackeray was cartoonist. The party symbol is bow and arrow, similar to JMM party symbol but its colour is saffron. Shiv Sena is one of the few political parties in India with Hindutva ideology.
Balasaheb Thackeray son Uddhav Thackeray succeeded him and became chief minister of Maharashtra in 2019. In 2022 one of his MLA Eknath Shinde rebelled after gathering 2/3rd of Shiv Sena MLAs and became chief minister in June 2022. After this election Commission of India freezed Shiv Sena logo and told both factions to come up with new symbols and name.
Also known as BJD, Biju Janata Dal is founded by Naveen Patnaik in 1997. He is the son of former Odisha CM Biju Patnaik. The party was named after him and it is particularly active in Odisha. Naveen Patnaik is ruling the Odisha state as a chief minister for quite long time.
He won election in 2000 and then started his second term in 2004, third in 2009, fourth in 2014 and fifth in 2019. BJD is the most popular party in Odisha and holds strong position in the state. Out of 147 seats in Odisha legislative Assembly 114 belongs to Biju Janata Dal alone.
AIADMK Founder – M. G. Ramachandran
AIADMK stands for All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. This party has a great influence in Tamil Nadu. M. G. Ramachandran founded this party in October 1972. From 1989 J. Jayalalithaa led this party and made it one of the most successful parties in the state’s history.
J. Jayalalithaa served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for 14 years and six terms. She was also an actress and after successful acting career she made into politics. A similarly named party in Tamil Nadu is DMK. AIADMK was formed after M. G. Ramachandran was expelled from the DMK party by M. Karunanidhi.
DMK Founder – C. N. Annadurai
In Tamil Nadu there’s DMK political party too which also has a great influence. It was founded by C. N. Annadurai in 1949. C. N. Annadurai headed this party from 1949 until his death in 1969. After INC, it was the first party in Tamil Nadu to win majority on its own.
After C. N. Annadurai death M. Karunanidhi became the party chief and under his tenure AIADMK was formed. Then his son M. K. Stalin succeeded him and became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
Politicial Parties Founders And Years
| Party | Founder | Year |
| BJP | Atal Bihari Vajpayee Lal Krishna Advani | 1980 |
| Congress | A.O Hume | 1885 |
| TMC | Mamata Banerjee | 1988 |
| BSP | Kanshi Ram | 1984 |
| Samajwadi Party | Mulayam Singh Yadav | 1992 |
| CPI | M.N Roy | 1925 |
| AAP | Arvind Kejriwal | 2012 |
| RJD | Lalu Yadav | 1997 |
| JMM | Shibu Soren | 1972 |
| Shiv Sena | Balasaheb Thackeray | 1966 |
| BJD | Naveen Patnaik | 1997 |
| AIADMK | M. G. Ramachandran | 1972 |
| DMK | C. N. Annadurai | 1949 |
So These Were The Famous Political Parties In India And Their Founders.
