The Vajpayee year(s)

The House sat for its shortest-ever duration, hindered by coalition instability. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s leadership pushed the Bharatiya Janata Party to national prominence.

Lok Sabha convened for its shortest-ever duration between March 10, 1998, and April 26, 1999. The era of coalition governance continued, albeit with a new leadership at the centre as the Bharatiya Janata Party helmed the National Democratic Alliance. Atal Bihari Vajpayee served his second stint as the Prime Minister, cultivating a popularity that eventually made BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda palatable on a national scale. The success of the Pokhran nuclear tests in this brief period furthered nationalistic sentiments. However, another Vajpayee-led government was doomed: it lost a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha by a margin of one vote and fell after 13 months. This Lok Sabha “extended phase of unstable governance”, The Hindu noted in an editorial.

The polls

Elections were prematurely called after the United Front coalition under I.K. Gujrat lost a confidence vote in 1997. Polling was conducted the next year between February 16 to March 7 across 543Constituencies. Voter turnout stood at 61.97%, with Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir recording the lowest share.

Only 4,750 candidates contested in the 12th General Elections, a dip of 65.90% from previous elections. Andhra Pradesh’s Ongole saw the maximum number of candidates in themix.

The now-seasoned Bharatiya Janata Party, which became the single largest party in the 1996 elections, repeated its streak. It gained the maximum number of seats (182) and captured 25.59% of votes; the highest came from De Delhi and the lowestmber of voters in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla chose BJP.

The Indian National Congress won 141 seats and Communist Party of India (Marxist) took 32. Congress leader KhagapatuPradhani for a record ninth time was elected to the Nabarangpur seat in Orissa. Mr. Pradhani retired the next year in 1999; the Nabarangpur seat was claimed by the BJP.

The house of the people

With BJP-led NDA in the lead, Mr. Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister for a second time in March 1998, this time for 13 months. He was elected 10 times to the Lok Sabha from four different States and was also a member of Rajya Sabha twice. Mr. Vajpayee was one of the founders of Jan Sangh in 1957, whichplayed a crucial role in shaping modern-day BJP. The NDA was a patchwork of 13 regional parties, with J. Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK being the second largest in the coalition and crucial for the government’s survival. Mr. Vajpayee’s second stint as PM ended after AIADMK withdrew its support. Still, Mr. Vajpayee’s leadership “ended the political untouchability of the BJP”, which thus far “had faced isolation and exclusion” due to its Hindu nationalist ideology and association with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, The Hindu noted in an analysis.

With Congress as the largest opposing party, Sonia Gandhi became the Leader of the Opposition. The Hindu in an editorial attributed Congress (I)’s “slightly better performance” to Mrs. Gandhi’s electioneering, “whose entry as the star campaigner undoubtedly helped galvanise the party cadre”. Mrs. Gandhi, however, showed no inclination to lead the government should there be a Congress (I)-led coalition at the center, suggested reports.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) politician G. M. C. Balayogi served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, his election marking a “precedent-setting event”, the Lok Sabha noted. He was the first Dalit leader and the first member from a regional party to be elected to the Chair. Mr. Balayogi also holds the distinction of being the youngest Speaker of the largest democracy. As Speaker, he was known for hiscommitment to parliamentary democracy and a tendency to function with “quiet efficiency”. Mr. Balayogi’s tenure was tragically cut short by his death in a helicopter crash.

The politics

The players of coalition governance shifted, and BJP found extra political and electoral space in the 1998 elections. The now-failed alliance between United Front and Congress (I) let “ego clashes, personal ambitions and narrow regional interests” prevail over prioritising forging strategic alliances, The Hindu’s editorial noted. BJP capitalised on “problems between the Congress (I), Left Parties and United Front”, and a prevailing disinclination among parties to cohabit with the Congress (I). Congress was successful in forging alliances with Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Republican Party of India. It lost favourwith Mrs. Jayalalitha’s AIADMK and Ramakrishna Hedge’s Lok Shakti to BJP. In some parts, including Andhra Pradesh, BJP also gained seats from TDP. Notably, Mr. Vajpayee, the BJP and NDA at large challenged “the idea of Congress’s monopoly in governance”.

BJP’s coalition was upheld by the presence of regional parties. Until now, “political parties mostly existed at regional levels, but there were few to none that could compete with [the Congress]”, The Hindu noted.The NDA coalition had the backing of the AIADMK, Akali Dal, Biju Janata Dal, Samata Party, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress, PMK, Lok Shakti, Janata Party. Mr. Vajpayee in speeches spoke about “look[ing] ahead and not back”, building a “national consensus” and replacing “political hostility” between parties with a new approach.

Regional leaders also played a decisive role in the coalition. Reports from March 1998 suggested former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of TDP could “sway the balance of numbers in favour of BJP”, should it break ranks with the United Front. An outlier among regional parties was the D.M.K.-Tamil Maanila Congress alliance which had an “abysmally low tally”. The 1998 Coimbatore bombings might have strengthened the perception of theDravida MunnetraKazhagamregime being “soft” and ineffectual towards “elements that disrupt communal harmony”, an editorial observed.

Fragility still plagued coalition governance. The Hindu on February 16, 1999, reported on “strained relations” between AIADMK and the BJP, with the AIADMK being “uncomfortable with the attitude of State BJP leaders”. Mrs. Jayalalitha reportedly threatened to withdraw support several times. Analysts also speculatedabout an alliance between Mrs. Gandhi and Mrs. Jayalalitha, after the two were seen together at a political tea party.

The agenda

The 13-month-long session of the Lok Sabha stood out despite its limitations. Two months in, Mr. Vajpayee’s government set off a series of five nuclear tests at the Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan, India’s second attempt at nuclear testing. The Pokhran II tests were condemned unequivocally internationally but within India, they reflected “a reawakening of India’s self-confidence and an awareness of its potential”, scholars Amitabh Mattoo and Chetan Rana wrote in The Hindu. Some also surmised that BJP conducted the tests “to demonstrate its own virility to the Indian population”, “its military prowess to the rest of the world” and to “cement its link with contentious parliamentary allies”.

During this period ISRO also launched India’s most advanced and second-generation satellite, distinguishing India “as perhaps the only developing country capable of such a major achievement in space scienceand technology”,according to aneditorial published on April 5 that year.

There was also an effort to build bridges with Pakistan, with Mr. Vajpayee’s inauguration of the Delhi-Lahore bus service. However, the subsequent Kargil War in May 1999would emerge as one of the biggest national security challenges in this tenure. It was Mr. Vajpayee’s “finest hour”, Navy Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar remarked later.

As schisms widened, Mrs. Jayalalitha withdrew her support from the coalition in April 1999, and the BJP failed to attain majority.Mrs. Gandhi, as the Leader of the Opposition, decided not to offer to lead the government. She felt her foreign origins, along with other factors, made her unsuitable for the post, former aide R.D. Pradhan wrote in a 2014 book.

The Vajpayee-led government fell, and the Lok Sabha was dissolved prematurely, again.

References

1. G.M.C. Balayogi, Lok Sabha Secretariat 2019
2. Ganguly, S. (1999). India’s Pathway to Pokhran II: The Prospects and Sources of New Delhi’s Nuclear Weapons Program. International Security, 23(4), 148-177. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2539297
3. Election Commission of India
4. The Hindu Archives
5. Election Atlas of India: Parliamentary elections 1952 – 2014, edited by Dr. R. K. Thukral