General Elections of 1996

In May 1996, Narasimha Rao resigned following the resounding defeat of the Congress in the General Elections. He also resigned from the post of party chief later.

The elections were fought along three themes – Ayodhya, economy, corruption. Lines were drawn along religious and caste; besides the Congress was torn by factions, and many accusations were made against the Narasimha Rao government from within the party itself for mishandling situations and corruption charges. In the circumstances, the verdict was fractured. No party got enough seats to form a government on its own.

The BJP won the most seats (161), while its allies formed of Samata Party, Shiva Sena and Haryana Vikas Party won a total of 26 seats, thus making the BJP group get a total 187 seats. The Congress got the second position, while the National Front composed of Janata Dal, Telugu Desam and Left Front won 114 seats. Another feature that marked the 1996 general elections was that several strong regional and state parties showed no interest in allying with any of the three main contenders for power.