The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD) was formed on 31 October 1972 when it split from
Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the
Bangladesh Awami League, under the leadership of
Serajul Alam Khan,
M. A. Jalil,
ASM Abdur Rab and
Shajahan Siraj. It had an armed wing,
Gonobahini, led by Colonel
Abu Taher and
Hasanul Haq Inu, Kazi Aref Ahmed, Monirul Islam, Sharif Nurul Ambia that led a violent left-wing
insurgency against the
regime of
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Their aim was to form a new left wing democratic national government, for facilitating establishing a socialist state with Bangladeshi characteristics. This led the government to use the pro-Mujib
Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini to counter the insurgency by the
Gonobahini.
Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Before the coup of 15 August 1975, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal had planned to organize a mass upsurge to form a democratic national government replacing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were
assassinated on 15 August 1975, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader Abu Taher showed his support and remarked: "The corpse of Sheikh Mujib should have been thrown into The Bay of Bengal".
Factions During Ziaur Rahman's rule, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal split up twice. The party fragmented again during the regime of
Hussain Muhammad Ershad in the 1980s, with ASM Abdur Rab and Shajahan Siraj heading two separate factions. Abdur Rab's faction,
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD, became the opposition after taking part in the 1988 elections, that were boycotted by all major political parties. After the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came to power in 1991, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal allied itself with former rivals Bangladesh Awami League to counter growing BNP and right wing influence in the country. ASM Abdur Rab later served as a minister from 1996 to 2001 in the Awami League-led government. == Election results ==