1991 Indian general election

2021-05-26T03:06:13Z

2607:FEA8:12A1:8700:931:EE2B:9B52:12FC: /* Rajiv Gandhi Assassination */

{{short description|General election in India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1991 Indian general election
| country = India
| type = parliamentary
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1989 Indian general election
| previous_year = 1989
| next_election = 1996 Indian general election
| next_year = 1996
| election_date = 20 May, 12 June, and 15 June 1991<ref>http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2145_91.htm</ref>
| seats_for_election = 521 out of 545 seats in the [[Lok Sabha]] <br /> 273 seats needed for majority
| turnout = 55.88% ({{decrease}}6.07%)
| image1 = [[File:Pumapaparti.N.rao.jpg|100px]]
| leader1 = [[P. V. Narasimha Rao|P.V. Narasimha Rao]]
| leaders_seat1 = [[Nandyal (Lok Sabha constituency)|Nandyal]]
| party1 = Indian National Congress
| alliance1 = Congress alliance
| seats1 = '''232''' {{efn|name=seats|Elections to Lok Sabha held in 1992 resulted in 12 more INC MPs being elected, thereby taking their tally to 244}}
| seat_change1 = {{increase}}35
| percentage1 = '''35.66%'''
| swing1 = {{decrease}}3.87%
| image2 = [[File:Lal Krishna Advani 2008-12-4.jpg|100px]]
| leader2 = [[L.K. Advani]]
| party2 = Bharatiya Janata Party
| alliance2 = Bharatiya Janata Party alliance
| leaders_seat2 = [[New Delhi (Lok Sabha constituency)|New Delhi]] ''(vacated)'' <br /> [[Gandhinagar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Gandhinagar]]
| seats2 = 120
| seat_change2 = {{increase}}35
| percentage2 = 20.04%
| swing2 = {{increase}}8.38%
| image3 = [[File:V. P. Singh (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| leader3 = [[V.P. Singh]]
| party3 = Janata Dal
| alliance3 = National Front (India)
| leaders_seat3 = [[Fatehpur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Fatehpur]]
| seats3 = 69
| seat_change3 = {{decrease}}74
| percentage3 = 11.77%
| swing3 = {{decrease}}28.89%
| map = [[File:Wahlergebnisse Indien 1991.svg|300px|lang=en]]
| title = [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]]
| posttitle = Subsequent Prime Minister
| before_election = [[Chandra Sekhar]]
| before_party = Samajwadi Janata Party
| after_election = [[P.V. Narasimha Rao]]
| after_party = Congress alliance
}}
'''General elections''' were held in [[India]] in 1991<ref>{{Cite web|title=1991 India General (10th Lok Sabha) Elections Results|url=https://www.elections.in/parliamentary-constituencies/1991-election-results.html|access-date=2020-09-07|website=www.elections.in}}</ref> to elect the members of the [[10th Lok Sabha]]. Voter turnout was the lowest ever in parliamentary elections.<ref>{{Cite web|title=India: parliamentary elections Lok Sabha, 1991|url=http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2145_91.htm|access-date=2020-09-06|website=archive.ipu.org}}</ref> No party could muster a majority in the Lok Sabha, hence INC formed a minority government with the support of other parties, resulting in a stable government for the next 5 years under the new Prime Minister [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]].

==Background==
The 1991 Indian general election were held as the previous Lok Sabha, with Chandra Sekhar at its helm had been dissolved just 16 months after government formation. The elections were held in a polarised environment and are also referred to as the 'Mandal-Mandir' elections after the two most important poll issues, the [[Mandal Commission]] fallout and the [[Ayodhya debate|Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue]].

===Mandal-Mandir Issue===

While the [[Mandal Commission]] report implemented by the VP Singh government gave 27 per cent reservation to the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in government jobs, it led to widespread violence and protests across the country, with many students in and around Delhi even setting themselves on fire. Mandir represented the hallmark of this election, where there was a debate over the disputed Babri Masjid structure at Ayodhya, which the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] was using as its major election [[manifesto]].

The [[Ayodhya debate|Mandir]] issue led to numerous riots in many parts of the country and the electorate was polarised on caste and religious lines. With the [[National Front (India)|National Front]] falling apart, the Congress managed to make the most of the polarisation, by getting the most seats and forming a minority government.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-04-06|title=History Revisited: How political parties fared in 1991 Lok Sabha election|url=https://zeenews.india.com/lok-sabha-general-elections-2019/history-revisited-how-political-parties-fared-in-1991-lok-sabha-election-2193229.html|access-date=2020-09-06|website=Zee News|language=en}}</ref>

===Rajiv Gandhi Assassination===
A day after the first round of polling took place on 20 May, former prime minister [[Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi|Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated]] while campaigning for [[Margatham Chandrasekar]] at [[Sriperumbudur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Sriperembudur]]. The remaining election days were postponed until mid-June and voting finally took place on 12 and 15 June. Voting was the lowest ever in parliamentary elections with just 53 per cent of the electorate exercising their right to vote.

Since the assassination took place after first phase of polling in 211 of 534 constituencies and the balance constituencies went to polls after the assassination, the 1991 results varied greatly between phases. <ref>The congress party did poorly in the pre-assassination constituencies and swept the post-assassination constituencies</ref>. The end result was a Congress-led minority government led by [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]], who had previously announced his retirement from politics.

=== Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab ===
76 to 126 people were shot dead during campaign on 17 June 1991 in two attacks by gunmen in Punjab, an area racked by separatist violence. Police reports said the killings, on separate trains, were carried out by Sikh militants.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crossette|first=Barbara|date=1991-06-17|title=Party of Gandhi Narrowly Ahead in India Election|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/17/world/party-of-gandhi-narrowly-ahead-in-india-election.html|access-date=2020-09-07|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> No elections were held in [[Indian general election, 1991 (Jammu and Kashmir)|Jammu and Kashmir]] and Punjab, a total of 19 Lok Sabha seats.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/once-upon-a-poll-tenth-lok-sabha-elections-1991/|title=Once Upon a Poll: Tenth Lok Sabha Elections (1991)|date=21 March 2014|work=The Indian Express|access-date=2018-04-07|language=en-US}}</ref> Elections were held in Punjab on 19 February 1992,<ref>{{Cite web|first=Ramesh |last=Vinayak|title=With militant scare and Akali boycott, Punjab elections may be a damp squib|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19920229-with-militant-scare-and-akali-boycott-punjab-elections-may-be-a-damp-squib-765888-2013-06-24|orig-date=February 29, 1992|date=September 3, 2013|access-date=2020-09-06|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref> where INC won 12 out of 13 seats,<ref>{{Cite web|title=1992 India General Elections Results|url=https://www.elections.in/parliamentary-constituencies/1992-election-results.html|access-date=2020-09-06|website=www.elections.in}}</ref> thereby taking their tally in the Lok Sabha up from 232 to 244.{{Politics of India}}

==Results==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|colspan=6|[[File:Lok Sabha Zusammensetzung 1991.svg|center|300px]]
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Lok Sabha]] elections 1991<ref>{{Cite web|title=General Election, 1991 (Vol I, II)|url=https://eci.gov.in/files/file/4121-general-election-1991-vol-i-ii/}}</ref><br />{{nobold|Electoral participation: 55,71%. No elections held in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. In [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] elections were held in 1992.}}
!%
!Won<br />{{small|(total 545)}}
|-
| Janata Dal
| JD
| 11.77
| 69
|-
| [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
| CPI(M)
| 6.14
| 35
|-
| [[Communist Party of India]]
| CPI
| 2.48
| 14
|-
| [[Indian Congress (Socialist)]]
| IC(S)
| 0.35
| 1
|-
| [[Indian National Congress]]
| INC
| 35.66
| '''244'''
|-
| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
| BJP
| 20.04
| 120
|-
| [[Janata Party]]
| JP
| 3.34
| 5
|-
| [[Lok Dal]]
| LD
| 0.06
| 0
|-
| [[All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]]
| AIADMK
| 1.61
| 11
|-
| [[All India Forward Bloc]]
| AIFB
| 0.41
| 3
|-
| [[Asom Gana Parishad]]
| AGP
| 0.54
| 1
|-
| [[Bahujan Samaj Party]]
| BSP
| 1.8
| 3
|-
| [[Indian Union Muslim League]]
| IUML
| 0.3
| 2
|-
| [[Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party|Jammu & Kashmir Panthers Party]]
| JPP
| 0.0
| 0
|-
| [[Jharkhand Mukti Morcha]]
| JMM
| 0.53
| 6
|-
| [[Kerala Congress (Mani)]]
| KC(M)
| 0.14
| 1
|-
| [[Manipur Peoples Party]]
| MPP
| 0.06
| 1
|-
| [[Naga People's Front|Nagaland Peoples Council]]
| NPC
| 0.12
| 1
|-
| [[Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)|Revolutionary Socialist Party]]
| RSP
| 0.63
| 5
|-
| [[Shiv Sena]]
| SS
| 0.79
| 4
|-
| [[Sikkim Sangram Parishad]]
| SSP
| 0.04
| 1
|-
| [[Telugu Desam Party]]
| TDP
| 2.96
| 13
|-
| [[United Minorities Front, Assam]]
| UMFA
| 0.07
| 1
|-
| [[All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimen]]
| AIMIM
| 0.16
| 1
|-
| [[Autonomous State Demand Committee]]
| ASDC
| 0.5
| 1
|-
| [[Haryana Vikas Party]]
| HVP
| 0.12
| 1
|-
| [[Janata Dal (Gujarat)]]
| JD(G)
| 0.5
| 1
|-
| Independents
| -
| 4.01
| 1
|-
| Nominated [[Anglo-Indian]]s
| -
| -
| 2
|-
|}

==Premiership==
The [[10th Lok Sabha]] constituted. [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] was in a position to form government. The persons, mentioned in media, as probable Prime Minister, were:<ref name=eighteen>{{cite news |date=18 June 1991 |title=Rao, Pawar in race for CPP-I leadership |url=https://news.google.ca/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19910618&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |location=Madras |access-date=2016-03-12}}</ref>
* ''Former [[Minister of Home Affairs (India)|Home]], and [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Foreign minister]]'' [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]].<ref name=eighteen />
* ''[[Chief Minister of Maharashtra]]'' [[Sharad Pawar]].<ref name=eighteen />
* ''Former [[Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh]]'' [[Arjun Singh (politician, born 1930)|Arjun Singh]].<ref name=eighteen />
* ''Former [[Minister of Finance (India)|Finance]], and [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Foreign minister]]'' [[N. D. Tiwari]].<ref>{{cite news |date=15 June 1991 |title=A meeting of hearts |url=https://news.google.ca/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19910615&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |location=Madras |access-date=2016-03-12}}</ref>

Congress eventually formed the government under the Prime Ministership of [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]. After [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]], Rao was the second Congress Prime Minister from outside the [[Nehru-Gandhi family]] and the first Congress Prime Minister to head a [[minority government]] that completed full 5-year term.<ref>{{cite news|title=How Shukla saved Rao govt in 1992|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/How-Shukla-saved-Rao-govt-in-1992/articleshow/16509278.cms|access-date=19 April 2018|work=The Times of India}}</ref> He introduced [[Economic liberalisation in India|Economic reforms]] in India.

==See also==
*[[Election Commission of India]]
*[[1989 Indian general election]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian elections}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian General Election, 1991}}
[[Category:1991 Indian general election| ]]
[[Category:May 1991 events in Asia]]
[[Category:June 1991 events in Asia]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

1991 Indian general election