Indian general election, 1989 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

General elections were held in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

in 1989 to elect the members of the 9th Lok Sabha

9th Lok Sabha

List of Members of the 9th Lok Sabha, elected May-June 1989. The Lok Sabha is the lower house in the Parliament of India.- Important members :* Speaker:...

. The result was a loss for the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

and Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...

, because all the opposition parties formed together a minority government under V. P. Singh

V. P. Singh

Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the seventh Prime Minister of India and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda.-Early life:...

and the National Front

National Front (India)

The National Front was a coalition of political parties, led by the Janata Dal, which formed India's government between 1989 and 1990 under the leadership of N. T. Rama Rao as President and V. P. Singh as Convener. The coalition's prime minister was V. P. Singh...

. The National Front was able to secure the first minority government, since 1947 Independence, with the help of the Left Parties

Left Front

The Left Front is an alliance of Indian leftist parties. After a 34-year reign in West Bengal, the Left Front was swept from power in the 2011 election...

and Bharatiya Janata Party

Bharatiya Janata Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

. The Communists and the BJP declined to serve in the government, preferring to support it from outside.

Background

The 1989 Indian general election were held because the previous Lok Sabha has been in power for a five years, and the constitution allowed for new elections. Even though Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi

had won the last election by a landslide, this election saw him trying to fight off scandals that had marred his administration.

The Bofors scandal

Bofors scandal

The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer...

, rising terrorism in Punjab, the civil war between LTTE and Sri Lankan government were just some of the problems that stared at Rajiv's government. Rajiv's biggest critic was Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who had held the portfolios of the finance ministry and the defence ministry in the government. During Singh's term as defence minister it was rumoured that he possessed damaging information about the Bofors defence deal that could ruin Rajiv's reputation.

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.

V.P. Singh as Prime Minister

In a dramatic meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament on 1 December, V. P. Singh proposed the name of Devi Lal as Prime Minister, in spite of the fact that he himself had been clearly projected by the anti-Congress forces as the 'clean' alternative to Rajiv and their Prime Ministerial candidate. Devi Lal, a Jat

Jat people

The Jat people are a community of traditionally non-elite tillers and herders in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subsequently into the Delhi Territory,...

leader from Haryana

Haryana

Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

stood up and refused the nomination, and said that he would prefer to be an 'elder uncle' to the Government, and that Singh should be PM. This last part came as a clear surprise to Chandra Shekhar

Chandra Shekhar

Chandra Shekhar Singh was the eighth Prime Minister of India.-Early years:He was born on 1 July 1927 to a Rajput farming family in Ibrahimpatti - Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Chandra Shekhar Singh did his Master of Arts at Allahabad University. He was known as a firebrand in student politics...

, the former head of the erstwhile Janata Party

Janata Party

The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...

, and Singh's greatest rival within the Janata Dal. Shekhar, who had clearly expected that an agreement had been forged with Lal as the consensus candidate, stormed out of the meeting and refused to serve in the Cabinet.

Chandra Sekhar as Prime Minister

Chandra Shekhar

broke away from the Janata Dal with 64 MPs and formed the Samajwadi Janata Party in 1990, becoming the 11th Prime Minister of India. He got outside support from the Congress and became the 11th Prime Minister of India. He finally resigned on March 6, 1991, after the Congress alleged that the government was spying on Rajiv Gandhi.

1989

Lok Sabha Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India... elections 1989 Electoral participation: 61,95%		%	Won (total 545)

Bharatiya Janata Party Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...	BJP	11,36	85
Communist Party of India Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...	CPI	2,57	12
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...	CPI(M)	6,55	33
Indian Congress (Socialist) Indian Congress (Socialist) Indian Congress was a political party in India between 1978 and 1986. The party was formed through a split in the Indian National Congress. Initially the party was known as the Indian National Congress and was led by D. Devraj Urs. It broke away from the parent party in 1978 following Indira...	IC(S)	0,33	1
Indian National Congress Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...	INC	39,53	197
Janata Dal Janata Dal Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...	JD	17,79	143
Janata Party Janata Party The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...	JP	1,01	0
Lok Dal (Bahuguna)	LD(B)	0,2	0
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...	AIADMK	1,5	11
All India Forward Bloc All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc is a leftwing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party after the independence of India...	AIFB	0,42	3
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...	DMK	2,39	0
Indian Congress (J) Trikha Group	ICJ(TG)	0,0	0
Indian Union Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League is a state political party in the state of Kerala, India. The chief support base of the party falls inside northern and central Kerala...	MUL	0,32	2
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Jammu & Kashmir National Conference The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference is a State political party in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Led at the time of Indian Independence in 1947 by Sheikh Abdullah, it dominated electoral politics in the state for many decades...	NC	0,2	3
Jammu & Kashmir Panthers Party	JPP	0,0	0
Kerala Congress Kerala Congress The Kerala Congress is a recognized State political party in Kerala, India. The party was founded by K. M. George in October 1964 after a group of legislators decided to break from the Indian National Congress...	KC	0,02	0
Kuki National Assembly	NC	0,04	0
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party was Goa's first ruling party after the end of Portuguese colonial rule in 1961. In the first elections held after India took over the former Portuguese colony, it ascended to power in December 1963 and stayed on, till being ousted from power by defections in early...	MGP	0,04	1
Manipur Peoples Party Manipur Peoples Party The Manipur Peoples Party is a political party in the Indian state of Manipur. MPP was founded on December 26, 1968 by a group of dissidents from the Indian National Congress. At the February 2007 Manipur state elections, the party received 5 of the 60 seats....	MPP	0,05	0
Mizo National Front Mizo National Front Mizo National Front is a regional political party in Mizoram, India. MNF emerged out of the Mizo National Famine Front, which was formed by Pu Laldenga to protest against the inaction of the Indian central government towards the famine situation in the Mizo areas of the Assam state in 1959. It...	MNF	0,02	0
Nagaland Peoples Council	NPC	0,08	0
Peoples Party of Arunachal Peoples Party of Arunachal Peoples Party of Arunachal, a political party in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh 1977-1989. PPA president was Tomo Riba.State Assembly elections results:1978: 21 candidates, 8 elected1980: 28 candidates, 13 elected1984: 13 candidates, 4 elected...	PPA	0,3	0
Peasants and Workers Party of India Peasants and Workers Party of India Peasants and Workers Party of India , is a marxist political party in Maharashtra, India. The party was founded in 1949, having its roots from the pre-Independence period and has around 10,000 members. The influence of the party is largely limited to three districts.Member of legislative council of...	PWPI	0,21	0
Revolutionary Socialist Party Revolutionary Socialist Party (India) Revolutionary Socialist Party is a Marxist-Leninist political party in India. The party was founded on March 19, 1940 and has its roots in the Bengali liberation movement Anushilan Samiti and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army. The party got around 0,4% of the votes and three seats in the Lok...	RSP	0,62	4
Shiromani Akali Dal Shiromani Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal , translation: Supreme Akali Party) is a Sikh nationalist political parties based in Punjab. The current party to be recognized by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Parkash Singh Badal...	SAD	0,03	0
Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal)	SAD(B)	0,14	0
Sikkim Sangram Parishad	SSP	0,03	1
Telugu Desam Party Telugu Desam Party Telugu Desam Party or TDP is a regional political party in India's Andhra Pradesh state. It was founded by former Telugu film star N. T...	TDP	3,29	2
Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha The Akhil Bhārat Hindū Mahāsabhā is a Hindu nationalist political party in India. It was founded in 1915, as an alternative for Hindus who were not attracted to the secular Indian National Congress and sought to oppose the Muslim separatism of the Muslim League.-Hindutva:The Mahasabha promoted the...	ABHS	0,07	1
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimen	AIMIM	0,21	1
Bahujan Samaj Party Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party is a centrist national political party in India with socialist leanings. It was formed to chiefly represent Bahujans , referring to people from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes as well as Buddhists. The party claims to be inspired by the...	BSP	2,07	3
Gorkha National Liberation Front Gorkha National Liberation Front Gorkha National Liberation Front is a political party in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India...	GNLF	0,14	1
Indian Peoples Front	IPF	0,25	1
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is a state political party in the state Jharkhand, India. It has a strength of 2 in the 15th Lok Sabha. Shibu Soren is the president of JMM...	JMM	0,34	3
Kerala Congress (Mani)	KC(M)	0,12	1
Marxist Coordination Committee	MCO	0,08	1
Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann)	SAD(M)	0,77	6
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...	SS	0,11	1
Independents	-	5,25	12
Nominated Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent... s	-	-	2