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{{Short description|VP Singh's government}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox premiership|name=Premiership of Vishwanath Pratap Singh|predecessor=[[Rajiv Gandhi]]|term_end=10 November 1990{{Sfn|Hewitt|2007|p=89}}|vicepresident=[[Shankar Dayal Sharma]]|president=[[Ramaswamy Venkataraman]]|cabinet=[[V. P. Singh ministry]]|party=[[Janata Dal]]|election=[[1989 Indian general election]]|term_start=2 December 1989|seat=[[Fatehpur (Lok Sabha constituency)]]|successor=[[Chandra Shekhar]]|image=File:V._P._Singh_(cropped).jpg|incoming=[[Chandra Shekhar#Prime Minister|Chandra Shekhar premiership]]|outgoing=[[Rajiv Gandhi#Prime Minister of India|Rajiv Gandhi premiership]]|official_url=https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/former_pm/shri-vishwanath-pratap-singh/|archive_url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921155904/https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/former_pm/shri-vishwanath-pratap-singh/|seal=File:Emblem_of_India.svg|seal_caption='''[[National emblem of India]]'''|library_url=https://dl.acm.org/profile/81487647157|transition_url=https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/former_pm/shri-vishwanath-pratap-singh/}}
[[File:Vishwanath Pratap Singh taking the oath as the 8th Prime Minister of India.jpg|thumb|Vishwanath Pratap Singh taking the oath of office as India's 8th Prime Minister on 2 December 1989]]
'''[[Vishwanath Pratap Singh]]''' held office for slightly less than a year, from 2 December 1989 to 10 November 1990. After state legislative elections in March 1990, Singh's governing coalition achieved control of both houses of India's parliament. Singh becomes the [[List of prime ministers of India|7th]] [[Prime Minister of India]], after the loss of [[Rajiv Gandhi]] in the [[1989 Indian general election]]. Singh's newly formed [[National Front (India)]] won 143 seats in the [[Lok Sabha]] and was supported by [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] from outside.

Under his premiership there were made many bold acts such as [[Mandal Commission|Mandal commission]], which lead to a [[Mandal Commission protests of 1990|nation-wide protests]] and also social empowerment act like [[Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989|SC and ST Act, 1989]]. The [[exodus of Kashmiri Hindus]] was also a turning effect for his voting side. There was also a tussle between him and [[Reliance Industries]].

His tenure ended on 10 November 1990, after [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] withdrew their support after stoppage of [[Ram Rath Yatra]] and arrest of party president, [[L. K. Advani]]. [[Chandra Shekhar]] immediately seized the moment and left the Janata Dal with several of his own supporters (including [[Devi Lal]], [[Janeshwar Mishra]], [[H. D. Deve Gowda|HD Deve Gowda]], [[Maneka Gandhi]], [[Ashoke Kumar Sen]], [[Subodh Kant Sahay]], [[Om Prakash Chautala]], [[Hukam Singh (Haryana politician)|Hukam Singh]], [[Chimanbhai Patel]], [[Mulayam Singh Yadav]], [[Yashwant Sinha]], [[Vidya Charan Shukla|VC Shukla]], and [[Sanjaya Sinh|Sanjay Singh]]) to form the [[Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)|Samajwadi Janata Party/Janata Dal (Socialist)]]. Although [[Chandra Shekhar]] had a mere 64 MPs, [[Rajiv Gandhi]] the leader of the Opposition, agreed to support him on the floor of the House; so he won a confidence motion and was sworn in as Prime Minister.

== Taking the office ==
[[File:Wahlergebnisse_Indien_1989.svg|left|thumb|Details of seats attained by [[Political party]] in [[1989 Indian general election]].]]

{{Main|1989 Indian general election}}
The 1989 Indian general elections were held because the previous Lok Sabha has been in power for five years, and the constitution allowed for new elections. Even though [[Rajiv Gandhi]] had won the last election by a landslide, this election saw him trying to fight off scandals that had marred his administration.{{Efn|[[1989 Indian general election|1989 elections]] were considered as a lucky charm for the '''[[Vishwanath Pratap Singh|Singh]]''' in the politics on defeating the [[Rajiv Gandhi]].|name=|group=lower-alpha}}

The [[Bofors scandal]], rising terrorism in Punjab, the [[Sri Lankan Civil War|civil war]] between [[LTTE]] and Sri Lankan government were just some of the problems that stared at Rajiv's government.{{Efn|After the [[Bofors scandal]], Singh one of the biggest mates of [[Rajiv Gandhi]] became his biggest critic.({{harvnb|Mustafa|p=78}})|name=|group=lower-alpha}} Singh was [[Rajiv Gandhi|Rajiv's]] biggest critic was, who had held the portfolios of the finance ministry and the defense ministry in the government.<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 November 1989|first=Uttam|last=Sengupta|title=Elections 1989: Congress(I) faces prospect of being routed in Bihar|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19891130-elections-1989-congressi-faces-prospect-of-being-routed-in-bihar-816812-1989-11-30|access-date=2020-12-23|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref>

But Singh was soon sacked from the Cabinet and he then resigned from his memberships in the Congress and the [[Lok Sabha]]. He formed the [[Jan Morcha]] with [[Arun Nehru]] and [[Arif Mohammad Khan]] and re-entered the [[Lok Sabha]] from [[Allahabad (Lok Sabha constituency)|Allahabad]]. Witnessing [[V P Singh]]'s meteoric rise on the national stage, Rajiv tried to counter him with another prominent [[Rajput]] stalwart [[Satyendra Narayan Sinha|Satyendra Narain Singh]] but failed eventually.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=U. N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9dDH9q7nVQ8C&pg=PA124|title=Indian Parliamentary Democracy|date=2003|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-269-0193-7|pages=125|language=en}}</ref>

Singh, who was the head of the [[Janata Dal]], was chosen leader of the [[National Front (India)|National Front government]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Saksena|first=N. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9NszWp5fdYC|title=India, Towards Anarchy, 1967-1992|date=1993|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-296-3|language=en}}</ref> And on 26 November he sworn the position.
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== Timeline ==

* 26 November 1989 - Singh's coalition of parties won 143 seats and was supported by [[Bharatiya Janata Party]].
* 2 December 1989 - Singh swore as the 8th Prime Minister of India.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tully|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Tully|date=2008-12-03|title=Obituary: VP Singh|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/03/vp-singh-obituary|access-date=2020-12-23|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
* 8 December 1989 - [[1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed]] by Kashmiri militants.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 February 2004|title=14 yrs down, JKLF admits Rubaiya kidnap |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/14-yrs-down-JKLF-admits-Rubaiya-kidnap/articleshow/484093.cms|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109123431/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/484093.cms|archive-date=2018-01-09|access-date=2020-12-23|website=[[The Times of India]]|language=en}}</ref>
* 13 December 1989 - Release of 5 terrorists of [[Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crossette|first=Barbara|date=1989-12-14|title=Abducted Woman Freed in Kashmir|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/14/world/abducted-woman-freed-in-kashmir.html|url-status=live|access-date=2020-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625132454/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/14/world/abducted-woman-freed-in-kashmir.html|archive-date=2018-06-25|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* 16 December 1989 - Passing of [[Sixty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India]] in [[Lok Sabha]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-03-01|title=The Constitution of India (1949)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203013102/http://164.100.47.134/intranet/CAI/E.pdf|url-access=limited|url=http://164.100.47.134/intranet/CAI/E.pdf|archive-date=2013-12-03|access-date=2020-12-23|website=[[Lok Sabha|Lok Sabha Secretariat]]|page=1091}}</ref>
* 29 December 1989 - Passing of [[Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Supreme Court: SC/ST Amendment Act Constitutionally Valid, No Preliminary Enquiry for FIR|url=https://thewire.in/caste/sc-st-amendment-act-supreme-court|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803202537/https://thewire.in/caste/sc-st-amendment-act-supreme-court|archive-date=2020-08-03|access-date=2020-12-23|website=[[The Wire (India)|The Wire]]}}</ref>
* 21 January 1990 – 13 February 1990 - Insurgency in Kashmir on Hindus increased leading to [[Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus|mass exodus]].<ref>{{Citation|last1=Metcalf|first1=Barbara|title=A Concise History of Modern India (Cambridge Concise Histories)|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge and New York: [[Cambridge University Press]]. Pp. xxxiii, 372|isbn=978-0-521-68225-1|ref={{sfnref|Metcalf & Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India|2006}}|last2=Metcalf|first2=Thomas R.|author-link2=Thomas R. Metcalf|author-link1=Barbara Metcalf}}</ref>
* 29 July 1990 - Implementation of [[Mandal Commission]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Pawan Kumar|last2=Parthi|first2=Komila|date=2016-08-01|title=Reproductive health services in Punjab: Evidence of access for Scheduled Castes and non-Scheduled Castes|journal=Social Change|volume=34|issue=2|pages=40–65|language=en|doi=10.1177/004908570403400204|issn=0049-0857|s2cid=146674412}}</ref>
* August 1990 - [[Mandal Commission protests of 1990]] all over the nation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gehlot|first=N. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-c0nGTRxRIC&q=mandal+commission+and+mandalisation&pg=PA257|title=Current Trends in Indian Politics|date=1998|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=978-81-7100-798-1|language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Mustafa|loc={{small|(intro.)}}}}
* 19 September 1990 - Self-immolation of [[Rajiv Goswami]].<ref>{{Cite web|website=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India | title=Pioneer of anti-Mandal stir Rajiv Goswami dead | date= 25 February 2004|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040225/main6.htm|access-date=2020-12-23}}</ref>
* 12 September 1990 - Starting of [[Ram Rath Yatra]] by [[L. K. Advani]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe|author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot|date=2009|title=The Hindu nationalist reinterpretation of pilgrimage in India: the limits of Yatra politics|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2009.00364.x|journal=Nations and Nationalism|language=en|volume=15|issue=1|pages=1–19|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8129.2009.00364.x|issn=1469-8129|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* 23 October 1990 - Arrest of [[L. K. Advani]] on order of [[Vishwanath Pratap Singh|Singh]].{{Sfn|Hewitt|2007|p=76}}
* 30 October 1990 - Anti-Singh movement in [[BJP]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crossette|first=Barbara|date=1990-10-30|title=India Ready to Bar Hindu Move Today|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/30/world/india-ready-to-bar-hindu-move-today.html|access-date=2020-12-23|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* 7 November 1990 - Resignation of Singh after no-confidence with a vote of 356 to 151.<ref>Following his opposition to the [[Ram Rath Yatra]], the BJP withdrew its support for the National Front, and his government lost the [[Motion of no confidence|vote of no-confidence]]. Singh resigned on 7 November 1990. His prime ministerial tenure lasted for 343 days.({{Harvard citation no brackets|Mustafa|p=i-iii}})</ref>

== Premiership ==
{{Main|Vishwanath Pratap Singh#Prime Minister (1989 – 90)}}

== See also ==

* [[V. P. Singh ministry]]
* [[Vishwanath Pratap Singh]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

== Sources ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* {{Cite book|last=Mustafa|first=Seema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEpuAAAAMAAJ|title=The Lonely Prophet: V.P. Singh, a Political Biography|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]]|year=1995|isbn=8122408095|location=[[University of Michigan]], [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]]|oclc=33664491|ref={{SfnRef|Mustafa}}|author-link=Seema Mustafa}}
* {{Cite book|last=Hewitt|first=Vernon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sh6yVyWM4pwC|title=Political Mobilisation and Democracy in India{{small|(States of Emergency)}}|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|year=2007|isbn=9781134097623}}

== External links ==

* {{cite report|title= Statistical report on general elections, 1989, to the Ninth Lok Sabha | volume= I | publisher= Election Commission of India| place= New Delhi | date=1990 |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/statisticalreports/LS_1989/Vol_I_LS_89.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718183934/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1989/Vol_I_LS_89.pdf|archive-date=18 July 2014|access-date=25 May 2014}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, V. P.}}
[[Category:Indian premierships]]
[[Category:V. P. Singh administration]]
[[Category:1990s in India]]

Premiership of V. P. Singh - Revision history

BP Writer at 15:06, 30 October 2025