Lok Satta is a

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, founded by

Nagabhairava Jaya Prakash Narayana Jaya Prakash Narayana (born 14 January 1956), is an Indian liberal politician and activist. He is the founder and president of Lok Satta Party. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Kukatpally constituency of Andhra Pradesh in ...

, a former I.A.S. officer and renowned activist from

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. Since 1996, the

Lok Satta Movement Lok Satta is a non-partisan movement for democratic reforms in the country of India, led by Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, a former I. A. S. officer and renowned activist from Andhra Pradesh, India. The movement was started in 1996 with the foundi ...

functioned as a

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

, but on 2 October 2006, the movement was reorganised into a formal political party. The party intends to further the causes of the Lok Satta Movement, including a reduction in the size of the

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, promotion of the

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, and disclosure of

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s and assets by political candidates. Beginning with the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

the party has adopted a

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as their official symbol. On 23 March 2016, the party founder president, Jayaprakash Narayan said that they will not take part in electoral politics for sometime.

History

Lok Satta started as a citizen movement, ''Lok Satta Andolana'' or

, in

and later spread across the country, including

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, with the ''Vote JUHU'' and ''Vote Mumbai'' campaigns. 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 Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

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 Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. It was also active earlier in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Leadership

The party's founder and National President is

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

, a former doctor who was an

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

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. 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.

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 what the party argues are the five pillars of a true democracy: * Liberty * Self-governance * Citizen empowerment * Rule of law * Self-correcting institutions.

References

External links

Official websiteLok Satta NewsNRI wing of Lok Satta Party
{{Indian political parties Political parties established in 2006 2006 establishments in Andhra Pradesh Political parties in Andhra Pradesh Conservative parties in India