In 1990, a Janata Dal-led coalition increased quotas for these castes in government jobs and colleges.
The Janata Dal is also banking on the votes of India's numerous backward castes.
One is the Janata Dal, two of whose prime ministers were toppled by Congress in the previous parliament.
The Janata Dal holds 45 of the 545 seats in the lower house.
After all, Yadav is the president of Gujral's own party, the Janata Dal, the largest single party in the Front.
If there is a breakup in the Janata Dal, Yadav could ask his MPs to leave the Front and join Kesri.
Mr. Kumar's Janata Dal (United) party is part of India's main opposition coalition led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Janata Dal's latest problems reflect the inherent instability of the coalition, which came to power in May last year under Gujral's predecessor, H.
The local Janata Dal (Secular) party was leading in 43 seats.
His Rashtriya Janata Dal party, which has joined forces with Sonia Gandhi's Congress and one of the mainstream communist parties, faces a coalition of enemies.
The makeshift food stall where she helps her parents is almost next door to the offices of Bihar's ruling parties, the Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP).
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One well-known MP - Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav - voted against the bill, arguing that criminalising stalking and voyeurism could result in more false cases being filed against men.
The Hindu nationalist BJP, which currently holds power in the state and is the main opposition party at the national level, got just 40 seats, the same as the Janata Dal (Secular), a local party in Karnataka.
The Janata Dal hopes to get a large chunk of the Muslim votes because Muslims are unlikely to vote for the BJP and are angry with Congress for failing to prevent the demolition of the Ayodhya mosque in 1992.
Congress's decision to stand alone in Bihar, where it looked set to win only two out of 40 seats, was less fruitful though given the collapse of its erstwhile ally there, the Rashtriya Janata Dal party, from 22 seats in 2004 to perhaps three, it may not have been costly.
Casting his net wide, Rahul Gandhi, the son of Congress's leader Sonia Gandhi, has suggested he would be open to this, and perhaps also to tie-ups with a former BJP ally in AP, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and a current one, the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), in Bihar.
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