10th Lok Sabha 1991
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 and led to widespread violence and protests across the country by the forward castes, Mandir represented the row over the disputed Babri Masjid structure at Ayodhya which the Bharatiya Janata Party was using as its major poll plank.
The Mandir issue had led to riots in many party of the country and the electorate was polarised on caste and religious lines. With the national Front in disarray, the Congress seemed to be on the comeback trail.
The elections were held in three phases May 20, June 12 and June 15, 1991. It was a three-cornered fight between the Congress, the BJP and the National Front-Janta Dal (S)-Left Front coalition.
A day after the first round of polling took place on May 20, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam while campaigning at Sriperembudur. The remaining election days were postponed until mid-June and voting finally took place on June 12 and June 15. Voting was the lowest ever in parliamentary elections with just 53 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise.
The results threw a Hung Parliament with the Congress emerging as the largest party with 232 seats, while the BJP was second with 120 seats. Janata Dal came a distant third with just 59 seats.
On June 21, PV Narasimha Rao of the Congress was sworn in as the Prime Minister. Rao was the only second Congress PM from outside the Nehru-Gandhi family. The first non-Nehru-Gandhi family PM from Congress was Lal Bahadur Shastri.
| Dates: 20/06/1991-10/05/1996 |
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