Lok Satta Party Explained

Colorcode:
  1. 1b4698
Leader:Jaya Prakash Narayana
Chairman:Jaya Prakash Narayana
Foundation:2 October 2006
Founder:Jaya Prakash Narayana
Headquarters:H.No: 8-2-674B/2/9, Road No: 13A, Banjara Hills
Hyderabad- 500034
Eci:Unrecognised Political Party[1]
Ideology:Conservative liberalism
Fiscal conservatism
Economic liberalism
Federalism
Classical liberalism[2]
Position:Centre
Publication:Lok Satta Times
Youth:Yuva Satta
Women:Mahila Satta
Website:www.LokSatta.org
State Seats Name:Karnataka Legislative Assembly
Party Name:Lok Satta Party
Predecessor:Lok Satta (NGO)
International:People For Lok Satta
Colours:Blue & Red

Lok Satta is a classical liberal political party in India, founded by Nagabhairava Jaya Prakash Narayana, a former IAS 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]

History

See main article: Lok Satta Movement. Lok Satta started as a citizen movement, Lok Satta Andolana or Lok Satta Movement, in unified Andhra Pradesh and later spread to few other parts of 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 unified Andhra Pradesh before it became a political party.

Lok Satta Party is now active in few Indian states, including Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It was also active earlier in Karnataka, Maharashtra, 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 establish 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 Surendra Srivastava, Katari Srinivasa Rao, D.V.V.S. Varma, Dr. Ashwin Mahesh and Dilip Sankarreddy.

State units

Bheesetti Babji is the President of Andhra Pradesh State unit. Thummanapally Srinivas is the President of Telangana State unit.

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 what the party argues are the five pillars of a true democracy:[9]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013. Election Commission of India. 9 May 2013. India. 2013.
  2. Web site: Loksatta - Government 'by' the people. Loksatta Party. 2016-04-11.
  3. News: Lok Satta sees silent revolution. 2009-04-03. The Hindu. en-IN. 0971-751X. 2016-04-11.
  4. Web site: Jayaprakash Narayan launches Lok Satta. https://web.archive.org/web/20121016082747/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-10-02/india/27805724_1_electoral-reforms-blue-star-candidates-with-criminal-background. dead. 2012-10-16. 2006-10-02. The Times of India. 2016-04-11.
  5. News: Lok Satta releases fourth list. 2009-03-28. The Hindu. en-IN. 0971-751X. 2016-04-11.
  6. News: Lok Satta takes a break from electoral politics. 2016-03-23. The Hindu. en-IN. 0971-751X. 2016-04-11.
  7. Web site: Welcome to Vote Mumbai. Vote Mumbai. https://web.archive.org/web/20090106042052/http://www.votemumbai.org/sponsorus.asp. 2009-01-06.
  8. Web site: About Lok Satta Party . LokSatta Official website. 4 February 2009. 23 August 2013.
  9. Web site: What does LOK SATTA PARTY emblem signify?. www.loksatta.org. 2016-04-11.