WSN Service

NEW DELHI: Congress l is all set to form government in India to stage a comeback after two years of non-Congress (I) rule. Mr Narasimha Rao is most likely to head the new regime although he has to contend with some opposition from within the party spearheaded by Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar.

In either case the highest executive post will now be held by a politician who not only does not belong to U.P. from where all earlier PMs hailed but who comes from a region other than north India.

Equally significantly the new development heralds the end of the Nehru dynasty which ruled India for nearly four decades unless of the Congress (I) can persuade Sonia Gandhi at the last moment to head the government. The latter possibility could safely be ruled out.

A unique feature of India’s politics in the wake of the just concluded poll is the failure of the Congress (I) to gain absolute majority in the 543 strong House. As things stand the party cannot hope to cross the 240 mark even with the help of the AIADMK.

The National Front comprising the DMK the C.P.(M) and C.P.I. together are likely to get about 125 seats while the BJP is expected to win about 125 seats.

Hectic consultations started within the Congress (I) as well as among leaders of the National Front even before all the results were received on the modalities of cooperation to run the affairs of State. The B.J.P. firmly announced its resolve to function as an opposition party and not to be a party to any government formation efforts.

From the view expressed by national front leader V-P.Singh in television interviews it appeared that all Front components will take a unified stand vis-a-vis the Congress (1). Singh himself it looked was in favour of the National Front performing its assigned role namely sit in opposition and extend support to minority Congress (I) government from outside. The former Prime Minister is far from subscribing to the view that his party should join hands with Congress (I) to form a coalition government In any case Singh made it evident that BJ.P. Alone would not be allowed to comer the discontent against the government.

All major opposition leaders are of the view that it is for the Congress (I) leadership to take initiative to seek cooperation from them and not the vice versa.

Congress (I) scored handsome gains from Maharashtra Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Haryana Kerala and Tamil Nadu it performed well in Orissa Delhi Himachal Pradesh Assam and Rajasthan. The party however performed poorly in Bihar and UP.. its traditional strongholds. On the other hand the Janata Dal did well in Bihar and fairly satisfactorily in U.P.

The national front’s leftist components swept the poll in Bengal but did poorly in Kerala.

The BJP lost in its strongholds of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan put gained substantially in Gujarat and U.P and new ground in West Bengal Assam Kamataka.

The C.P.(M)-led leftist front won for the fourth consecutive term in the West Bengal Assembly election to create a record of sorts But the party and its allies lost in Kerala ‘Assembly to the Congress (I) The BJ.P. Performed well in the election to the UP Assembly where it won a clear majority to dislodge the Congress (I) backed Mulayam Singh Yadav government. Yadav was originally with Mr V.P.Singh but had left him to join Mr Chander Shekhar’

The Congress (I) succeeded in winning a majority in the Haryana Assembly to defeat the SJ.P. led government headed by Devi Lal’s protege Hukam Singh. The party won 5! out of 90 seats. Mr Bhajan Lal is again a contender for the post of Chief Minister Mr Bansi Lal’s Haryana Vikas Party did not do well in the Assembly election

The Congress (I) is well on its way to form a govt in Assam also The Congress (I) and its allies captured 228 seats in the Lok Sabha by late Tuesday with 56 results yet to come but the party continued to suffer stunning reverses in Uttar Pradesh where it managed just two seats and drew a blank in Bihar.

While the Congress (I) had a tally of 213 and its allies had 15 seats they were still 28 short of an absolute majority in the 545 member house of which polls were held for 511 seats.

The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party improved upon its 1989 performance increasing its tally from 86 to 103 and was leading in several constituencies in Uttar Pradesh

The sympathy wave following former Indian premier and Congress (I) president Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination hardly had any impact in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP reaped a good harvest for both Lok Sahba and Assembly polls exploiting to the hilt the temple-mosque dispute.

In the 425 member Uttar Pradesh assembly the party has bagged 102 seats out of the 201 declared so far.

The Janata Dal with 68 seats is the next largest party in the New Vidhan Sabha. While the Congress (I) has won only 19 seats.

The Janata Dal and its allies maintained their domination of Bihar winning 34 of the 40 results declared with the remaining six going to the BJP. The Dal itself bagged 17 seats and its allies— the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Communist Party of India five each and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) one

The Janata Dal and its allies were leading in 12 other places with almost unassailable margins in ten constituencies.

In Andhra Pradesh the Congress-l after initial setbacks has consolidated its position by winning 24 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats for which results have been declared.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which was trounced in the 1989 elections bounced back into reckoning posting victories in 12 constituencies. It wrested 11 seats from Congress-I and retained its Narsapur seat.

While election to Cuddapah seat was countermanded following the death of an independent candidate the results of Hyderabad and Bapatla seats have been withheld due to certain discrepancies.

The BJP up an impressive performance in Gujarat bagging 20 out of 25 seats in Gujarat. For seats went to Congress (I) and one to its ally the Janata Dal (Gujarat).

The Congress (I) yielded ground to the BJP in Karnataka conceding four seats to it enabling the party to make its debut in the Lok Sabha from the state.

The Congress (I) retained 21 of the 26 seats for which results were declared so far. In 1989 the party had won 27 of 28 seats conceding one to Janata Dal but this time the Dal drew a blank.

In Kerala the Left Democratic Front improved its Lok Sabha tally from three to four though it was voted out of power in the state.

Meanwhile the election commission has nullified the declaration of results for Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat in Bihar and the Devnagari constituency in Kamataka as both returning officers had announced the results in violation of the commission’s embargo on such announcement pending an inquiry.

The deputy election commissioner D S Bagga told reporters the announcement of results had been withheld in the 14 parliamentary constituencies in Bihar Arunachal Pradesh U.P and Kamataka following complaints of rigging and malpractices during counting from candidates and political parties.

Among the prominent candidates who won on Tuesday are the Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar who retained his Ballia seat and the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Behari Vajpayee from Lucknow. Former U.P. chief minister N.D. Tiwari was defeated in the national Lok Sabha constituency

Article extracted from this publication >> June 21, 1991