The Doordarshi Party (Hindi: दूरदर्शी; also written as Door Darshi Party) was a political party in India. It was founded in Ahmedabad on 24 March 1980 by religious leader Baba Jai Gurudev on a platform of social reform and spiritual growth. The party did not receive significant support and withdrew from electoral politics in 1997.[1]
Doordarshi Party Manifesto
The Doordarshi Party campaigned with pledges to address issues including:
- Reform of the Constitution of India
- Release of innocent people in prison
- Employment for every educated youth
- Abolition of octroi 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 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 vegetarians.
Election results
The Doordarshi contested three General Elections to the Lok Sabha but won no seats.[2]
| Year | Seats contested | Won | % of votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 97 | 00 | NOT FOUND |
| 1989 | 288 | 00 | NOT FOUND |
| 1991 | 321 | 00 | NOT FOUND |
| Gujarat Legislative Assembly | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Seats contested | Won | Votas | % of votes |
| 1985 | 153 | 0 | 92,21,149 | 0.5% |
| 1990 | 168 | 0 | 1,26,85,977 | 0.4% |
| 1995 | 160 | 0 | 1,80,48,194 | 0.7% |
| Source: [3] | ||||