Lok Satta Party
Lok Satta is a classical liberal political party in India, founded by Nagabhairava Jaya Prakash Narayana, a former I.A.S. officer and renowned activist from Andhra Pradesh.[3] Since 1996, the Lok Satta Movement functioned as a non-governmental organisation, but on 2 October 2006, the movement was reorganised into a formal political party.[4] The party intends to further the causes of the Lok Satta Movement, including a reduction in the size of the cabinet, promotion of the Right to Information Act, and disclosure of criminal records and assets by political candidates. Beginning with the 2009 elections the party has adopted a whistle as their official symbol.[5] On 23 March 2016, the party founder president, Jayaprakash Narayan said that they will not take part in electoral politics for sometime.[6]
Lok Satta Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Jaya Prakash Narayana |
| Chairperson | Jaya Prakash Narayana |
| Founder | Jaya Prakash Narayana |
| Founded | 2 October 2006 |
| Preceded by | Lok Satta (NGO) |
| Headquarters | H.No: 8-2-674B/2/9, Road No: 13A, Banjara Hills Hyderabad- 500034 |
| Newspaper | Lok Satta Times |
| Youth wing | Yuva Satta |
| Women's wing | Mahila Satta |
| Ideology | Conservative liberalism Fiscal conservatism Economic liberalism Federalism Classical liberalism[1] |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| International affiliation | People For Lok Satta |
| Colours | Blue & Red |
| ECI Status | Unrecognised Political Party[2] |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 0 / 245
|
| Seats in | 0 / 294
|
| Website | |
| www.LokSatta.org | |
History
Lok Satta started as a citizen movement, Lok Satta Andolana or Lok Satta Movement, in Andhra Pradesh and later spread across the country, including Mumbai, with the Vote JUHU and Vote Mumbai campaigns.[7] It also played a major role in the Jaago Re! One Billion Votes. The Lok Satta organisation worked on bringing about several political reforms by working with other civic organisations. Lok Satta Party was founded with the realisation that entering into politics is the only option to bring about fundamental changes in the system and a new political culture. It grew rapidly, amassing over 30,000 members in the Greater Hyderabad region and over 60,000 members in Andhra Pradesh before it became a political party.
Lok Satta Party is now active in few other Indian states, including Karnataka and Maharashtra. It was also active earlier in Tamil Nadu and Delhi.
Leadership
The party's founder and National President is Jayaprakash Narayan, a former doctor who was an IAS officer in the 1980s from Andhra Pradesh. Narayan resigned from the IAS in 1996 to found the Lok Satta Movement, and the political party in 2006.
National Steering Committee
National Steering Committee is the highest body of Lok Satta Party. It is a subset of the National Council of the party.
| Leader | Role |
|---|---|
| Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan | Founder |
| Surendra Srivastava | National Party President |
Notable past members of the National Steering Committee include Katari Srinivasa Rao, D.V.V.S. Varma and Dr. Ashwin Mahesh.
Ideology
The political goals of Lok Satta include political, economic, and social equality for all people, making citizens the centre of governance, and to reform the government to make it less corrupt and more accessible and responsible to the people.[8]
Symbols
The Party flag also serves as the Party logo. The dark blue colour symbolises the vastness, depth and inclusive nature of the ocean. The white colour of the circle stands for purity. The colour symbolises unity of purpose and action. The five-pointed blue star signifies the party's course and the five corners of the star stand for the five pillars of a true democracy:[9]
- Liberty
- Self-governance
- Citizen empowerment
- Rule of law
- Self-correcting institutions.
Achievements
Although Loksatta is anti-corruption, it does not consider traditional parties untouchable and has worked with both the NDA and the UPA over the years. This political engagement drove the reform agenda of the country for over fifteen years. Some of the important contributions of Loksatta are in following reforms:
- Disclosure of criminal antecedents of candidates, which finally led to the candidate disclosure law in 2003.
- Improvement in voter registration after years of struggle and relentless pursuit.
- Political funding law in the wake of Tehelka scam.
- Strengthening the anti-defection provisions.
- Limiting the size of the Cabinet.
- Right to Information Act
- Local Courts law enacted in 2009.
- Autonomy of cooperatives through the 97th Constitutional amendment.
- A sound Lokpal Legislation.
A few more reforms are in the pipeline.
- Law on judicial standards and accountability.
- 120th amendment on National Judicial Appointments Commission.
- Service guarantee law providing for citizen’s chargers with penalties.
References
- "Loksatta - Government 'by' the people". Loksatta Party. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- "Lok Satta sees silent revolution". The Hindu. 3 April 2009. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- "Jayaprakash Narayan launches Lok Satta". The Times of India. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- "Lok Satta releases fourth list". The Hindu. 28 March 2009. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- "Lok Satta takes a break from electoral politics". The Hindu. 23 March 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- "Welcome to Vote Mumbai". Vote Mumbai. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009.
- "About Lok Satta Party". LokSatta Official website. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
- "What does LOK SATTA PARTY emblem signify?". www.loksatta.org. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
