The Doordarshi Party (Hindi: दूरदर्शी; also written as ''Door Darshi Party'') was a

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 ideological or p ...

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 ...

. It was founded in Ahmedabad on 24 March 1980 by religious leader Baba Jai Gurudev on a platform of

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

and spiritual growth. The party did not receive significant support and withdrew from

electoral politics An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections m ...

in 1997.

Doordarshi Party Manifesto

The Doordarshi Party campaigned with pledges to address issues including: * Reform of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

* Release of innocent people in prison * Employment for every educated youth * Abolition of

octroi Octroi (; fro, octroyer, to grant, authorize; Lat. ''auctor'') is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption. Antiquity The word itself is of French origin. Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, bein ...

taxes * Exemption of farmers from repayment of loans for agricultural purposes * Limiting elected politicians to a single tenure of five years with enforced retirement at age 60 * Sale of lossmaking nationalized industries * Clampdown on black money * Lowering of the retirement age to 60, with immediate payment of all pension fund entitlement * Banning labour union involvement in politics * Introduction of a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

system acceptable to all * Intellectuals shall be given due respect that they deserve. * India should pay off loans * All nations should regard India as the supreme power. * The respect and dignity of employees & officials should be restored. All party candidates were required to be

teetotal Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

Election results

The Doordarshi contested three General Elections to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

but won no seats.

References

Defunct political parties in India Political parties established in 1980 1980 establishments in India Political parties disestablished in 1997 1997 disestablishments in India {{India-party-stub