The Janata Dal (Secular) is a left of centre Indian political party. (It should not be confused with the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), although that party has common origins with the JD(S).)

The JD(S) traces its roots back to the Janata Party organized by Jayprakash Narayan that united all anti-Indira Gandhi parties under one banner for the 1977 national elections.

H.D. Deve Gowda, a Janata Dal member, became Prime Minister in 1996 of a United Front government.

A split occurred in 1999 when some leaders left to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party and form the Janata Dal (United) party. That party was lead by George Fernandes.

H.D. Deve Gowda is still the leader of the party and is a JD(S) MP for the Hassan district in Karnataka, India. His party is the third-largest in the Karnataka state legislature and governs in a coalition with the Indian National Congress party, the first coalition government in Karnataka. There is much controversy over the JD(S) allying with the Congress in Bangalore as the Congress Party formerly had an outright majority and was diminshed to second place with the BJP having a plurality. The BJP saw the rise in seats for both BJP and JD(S) as being a sign that the voters did not want a Congress state government and were very upset when the kingmaker JD(S) party decided to ally with the Congress Party to gain a majority. However, the JD(S) considered Congress to be the lesser of the two evils on account of its erstwhile secular and centre-left credentials.