NEW DELHI: The prominent leaders who have won election to the Lok Sabha include the late Rajiv Gandhi the former Prime Ministers V.P. Singh and Chander Shekhar George Fernandes L.K.Advani A.B. Vajpayee Abdul Ghani Khan Chaudhry Ajit Singh Buta Singh Balram Jakhar Mrs Vijayraje Scindia and Arjun Singh. Those who lost include Devi Lal H.K.L. Bhagat N.D. Tewari and Rajesh Khanna Arif Mohammed Khan Madhu Dandwate N.G. Ranga Hegde Vasant Sathe and Mrs Maneka Gandhi.
The results have been below expectations of all the parties. The Congress(I) the BJP and the Janata Dal-led national front were all working and expecting to gain a majority in the Lok Sabha the Congress (I) did better than its previous tally of 195 seats. The B.J.P too improved upon its 1989 Lok Sabha strength of 85. But the Janata Dal fell short of its 1989 tally mainly due to divisions is its ranks as also because of the sympathy factor after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
Statistics indicate that the Congress (I) improved far more on its 1989 record after the Rajiv assassination while its performance in the first round of polls prior to the assassination was nol as spectacular. That accounts for Congress (I)’s better showing in Tamil Nadu Kerala Karnataka Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Correspondingly the other parties had to bear the loss.
V.P.Singh explaining his party’s far from satisfactory performance and the Rajiv assassination induced pre-Congress (I) sympathy factor worked against his party.
The current election proved most disappointing to Prime Minister Chander Shekhar’s Janata Party and Kanshi Ram’s B.S.P. A pan from Shekhar only two other candidates could win. The party had fielded a few hundred candidates. Even Devi Lal lost both for the Lok Sabha and the Haryana Assembly. Shekhar and his group were expecting 30-40 seats in the Lok Sabha to play a significant role in the formation of new central government. Kanshi Ram too ploughed a lonely furrow and was expecting about 30 seats for his party. The B.S.P. ended up with only two seats. Even in the UP. Assembly the party could barely win half a dozen seats as compared to more than a score in the previous election.
However all the four former federal ministers who contested from Gujarat the Congress-l general secretary V N Gadgil and the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi Rajmohan Gandhi were humbled at the hands of Rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rivals.
Jyoti Basu Jayalalitha and DMK president M Karunanidhi (sole winner of his party) were among the notable winners to the state assemblies
Winners: Vidya Charan Shukla (Raipur) S Krishna Kumar (Quilon) K R Narayanan (Ottapalam) K P Unnikrishnan (Badagara) M Arunachalam (Tenkasi) A R Antulay (Kulaba) Vijayaraje Scindia (Guna).
Losers: Maganbhai Barot Manubhai Kotadia Shantubhai Patel J V Shah V N Gadgil and Rajmohan Gandhi. Winners: Ajit Singh (Baghpat Lok Sabha seat in Haryana) Rajesh Pilot (Dausa Rajasthan) Balram Jakhar (Sikar Rajasthan) Mani Shankar Aiyar (Mayiladuturai Tamil Nadu) Uma Bharti (Khaju rao M.P.) Sheila Kaul (Rae Bereilly U.P) Yunus Saleem ( Katihar Bihar) V C Shukla (Raipur M.P) and Shiv Charan Mathur (Bilwara Rajasthan.)
Losers: Rajmohan Gandhi (Sabarkanta Gujarat) Kalyan Singh Kalvi (Barmer Rajasthan) H K L Bhagat (East Delhi) Romesh Bhandari (South Delhi) V N Gadgil and Rao Birendra
Singh (Mahinder garh Haryana).
Article extracted from this publication >> June 21, 1991
