PATNA: Lalu Prasad Yadav assumed office of chief minister of Bihar on April 4 as he was administered oath of office by Indian governor A.R. Kidwal.
The ceremony was watched by the non-Congress (I) chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka while former Prime Minister V.P.Singhand Janata Dal President S.R. Bamai were among the thousands present. Yadav’s return to power assumed great importance because he led a politically challenging coalition of Muslims, Dalits and backward castes to defeat a combination of Brahmans and other so-called upper castes.
It was widely perceived that India’s chief election commissioner TN. Seshan was openly ranged against Yadav as elections to the State Assembly were postponed five times by him on grounds of lawlessness. So much so that the Yadav ministry was dismissed by Indian government just a week ago.
The Janata Dal and its leftist allies together won 191 of the 320 Assembly seats. The Janata Dal headed by Yadav along won more than 105 scats. The Congress (I) which had bagged 72 seats in the Assembly earlier could get no more than 30 seats, while the BJP won 40 seats.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 7, 1995
