United Front (India)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see United Front (disambiguation).
United Front
AbbreviationUF
Andhra Pradesh Bhavan, New Delhi

The United Front was a

Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi.[4]

Background

The Indian general election in 1996 returned a fractured verdict. With the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as the largest party with 161 of 543 seats, it was invited first to form a government. It accepted the offer, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as the prime minister. However, he was unable to get a majority in parliament, and the government dissolved 13 days later.[5] At a meeting of all the other parties, the Indian National Congress, with a substantial 140 seats, declined to head the government and agreed to extend outside support to the coalition,[6] whereas the Communist Party of India (Marxist) agreed to join the coalition with the Janata Dal at its head,[7] named the United Front.

With the approval of the Congress and CPI(M), the sitting chief minister of

fresh elections were called,[11] and the United Front lost power.[12] Later, when N. Chandrababu Naidu stepped down as convener of the United Front to extend outside support to the National Democratic Alliance, the coalition government collapsed.[13]

Electoral performance

Year Legislature Coalition leader Seats won Change in seats Percentage
of votes 		Vote swing Outcome Ref.
1996 11th Lok Sabha N. Chandrababu Naidu
305 / 543
 Steady 56.31% Steady Government [14]
1998 12th Lok Sabha
88 / 543
 Decrease 217 20.98% Decrease 35.33% Opposition [15]

List of prime ministers

Further information: List of prime ministers of India
No. Portrait Name Term in office Lok Sabha Cabinet Constituency Party
Start End Tenure
1 H. D. Deve Gowda 1 June 1996 21 April 1997 324 days 11th Deve Gowda Rajya Sabha
Karnataka 		Janata Dal  
2 Inder Kumar Gujral 21 April 1997 19 March 1998 332 days Gujral Rajya Sabha
Bihar

Coalition members

Party 1996
(Post-poll alliance) 		1998
(Pre-poll alliance) 		Seat Change
Internal support
Asom Gana Parishad 5 0 Decrease 5
Communist Party of India 12 9 Decrease 3
Communist Party of India (Marxist) 32 32 Steady
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 17 6 Decrease 11
Janata Dal 46 6 Decrease 40
Samajwadi Party 17 20 Increase 3
Tamil Maanila Congress 20 3 Decrease 17
Telugu Desam Party 16 12 Decrease 4
External support
Indian National Congress 140
Total 305 88 Decrease 217

References

  1. ISBN 978-81-7099-711-5
    . Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Chandrababu Naidu: Coalitions have delivered clear policies". The Indian Express. 2018-10-28. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  3. ^ Service, Indo-Asian News (2022-04-20). "Andhra Pradesh: Naidu turns 72, gears up for another poll battle". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  4. ^ "Routed in many of its strongholds, Third Force loses its pan-Indian identity". India Today. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  5. ^ "When Atal Bihari Vajpayee Became The Prime Minister For 13 Days And Then 13 Months". India.com. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  6. ^ "Mamata Banerjee Can Say No UPA Anymore but Her National Goals are Tied to Congress' Future". News18. 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  7. ^ Kumar, Arvind (2022-08-19). "What Left parties' decision to not join Bihar alliance means for India's Dalits, women, MBCs". ThePrint. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  8. ^ "Why Jyoti Basu could not be PM". Times of India Blog. 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  9. ^ Mukul, Akshaya. "Historic blunder: How hardliners denied Basu the chance to be PM". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  10. ^ "25 years ago HD Deve Gowda took oath as PM; JDS highlights achievements". www.business-standard.com. Press Trust of India. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  11. ^ "Elections '98: United Front confident of good performance in coming polls". India Today. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  12. ^ "Third Front | Alternative political combination and its challenges". Moneycontrol. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  13. ^ "Chandrababu Naidu 2.0: Can he recreate 1996 in 2019 in the Capital?". Hindustan Times. 2018-11-10. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  14. ^ Election Commission 1996.
  15. ^ Election Commission 1998.
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