Part-11: TN Session brought a revolutionary change to the Electoral Commission! Do you know how the election was then? Achi-News

Indian Parliament Election History: Just 13 days when the government lost the vote of confidence, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s words were very emotional. But like the name, Atal remained steadfast in his loyalty. In his own words, he never sold his altruistic politics for a vote. But now we cannot expect such loyalty and selflessness from any party or leader.

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Ab Key Bar Atal Bihari

The Vajpayee government ruled India for only 13 days. No government in India has ruled for such a short period. On May 28, 1996, Vajpayee resigned after giving an inspiring speech that is still remembered today.

In 1996, BJP entered the election arena under the slogan ‘Ab Ki Baar Atal Bihari’. Vajpayee himself led the BJP campaign in that election. Atal was different from other politicians who held more than 10 conventions in a day. He used to attend only 4-5 conventions in a day. His campaign rally was starting late in the morning. Atal used to cut short his speech before sunset. The BJP election theme that year was Hindutva. Lal Krishna Advani, who took the BJP to the brink of power, never became Prime Minister in the party’s first government. There was a strong reason for that.

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There is a Rao-Singh matchmaking charm

When PV Narasimha Rao became Prime Minister in 1991, the country was on the verge of financial bankruptcy. The government did not have a majority. He also had detractors within the party. Despite decades of adversity, Rao managed to save the country from the perils of bankruptcy. It opened the door of economic liberalization and laid the foundation for New India’s prosperity and GDP growth.

Within two weeks of becoming Prime Minister, there was pressure to do something to save the country from financial distress. The financial crisis was beyond repair. Government-owned enterprises were a nest of losses due to corruption and inefficiency. Although a financial crisis had been brewing since 1965, by 1991 it was on the brink of bankruptcy. Only enough foreign exchange reserves remained for two weeks of imports! The non-resident Indians also withdrew their deposits of 900 million dollars due to political instability in Delhi.

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Prime Minister Narasimha Rao took a loan from the International Monetary Fund in early 1991 to avoid India’s bankruptcy. Doubtful of India’s ability to repay debts, the IMF had suggested pledging gold.

So the loan obtained by hiding 67 tonnes of gold was not enough. The second time the loan was requested, the IMF imposed conditions. He said that if economic reform measures are not taken, no new loan will be given. Accordingly, government control over the economy and industries should be relaxed. Economic liberalization policies needed to be implemented. The license raj lobby was strongly against such a move. But overcoming all these obstacles, Narasimha Rao implemented the concept of economic liberalisation. The duo of Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh saved India from bankruptcy and ushered in economic reforms.

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Hawala shocked the country!

Apart from this, Rao faced another problem. Between 1991 and 1996, several scams occurred. The illegal nexus between politicians and criminals hurts the country further. What is special is that the names of the leaders of all the political parties can also be heard in this fraud. The hawala fraud by the Jain brothers through a militant arrested in Jammu and Kashmir created an unprecedented uproar in the country.

The country was shocked when the CBI sought permission to file a charge sheet against three cabinet ministers. A charge sheet was filed against Balram Jakhar, VC Shukla, Madhavrao Scindia. CBI also went to Supreme Court against opposition leaders LK Advani, Arjun Singh, Sharad Yadav, Yashwant Sinha and Devilal. Advani resigned from his post as MP on hearing his name.

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Perhaps for this reason, Advani did not seek the post of Prime Minister in the 1996 elections. In November 1995, Advani, speaking at the BJP convention in Mumbai, announced that the BJP would form the next government with Atalji as Prime Minister.

Advani’s announcement was curious. Because after the Rath Yatra he led in 1990, Advani emerged as a political star in the BJP rather than Vajpayee. Advani’s leadership helped take the party to an unexpected 120 seats in the Lok Sabha in the 1991 elections. Even then, Advani remained a martyr in the BJP.

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Along with these scandals, the Babri Masjid demolition case also hurt the Narasimha Rao government. Rao made no effort to stop the demolition of Babri Masjid.. But to say in Rao’s own words, he wanted to destroy one agenda of BJP forever. Rao made a plan so that the BJP should not use the Ayodhya issue in the elections. But it turned out to be a thorn in Rao’s side.

Then came a giant called TNSession

Even before Narasimha Rao became the Prime Minister, ie in 1990, TN Session came into power as the Chief Election Commissioner. Until then the officers were inactive in following the rules of the election. Political parties were also very indifferent to these rules. TN Session, who was the Chief Election Commissioner for 6 years from 1990 to 1996, broke the cool of politicians and officials. It gave a new shape to the electoral system of India.

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The model code of conduct was strictly implemented despite the intense dissatisfaction of the political parties. It was common for political parties to bring voters to the polls until they came to power. But the Model Code of Conduct is not meant to be broken, but should be followed without fail, Sessions said authoritatively and in a loud voice. Fraudulent voting was largely suppressed. He also drew attention to politicians because of his courage for reform. AIADMK chief Jayalalitha once said that Session was arrogant.

Voters were given compulsory identity cards, restrictions were placed on candidates’ election expenses, rules were introduced that sound amplifiers could not be used for election campaigning without written permission, a ban on hanging posters on the walls of public places and private buildings, distribution of alcohol and money and misuse of machines were curtailed. power, caste or community Banning voting on Aadhaar and banning campaigning in religious places are some of the memorable successes of Tension.

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In 1994, Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao had recommended the removal of Union ministers Sitarama Kesari and Kalpanathrai from the cabinet for allegedly influencing voters during such a session.

11th World War of many wonders

Elections to the 11th Lok Sabha were held in 3 phases on April 27, May 2 and 7, 1996. That time 59 crore people were eligible to vote. In the elections held for a total of 543 constituencies, the turnout was 57.94 per cent. That time there were 13,952 candidates in the fray. That number of candidates had never competed in any election. Before 1996, the applicant had to submit a deposit of 500 rupees. In 1996, the deposit amount was increased to 10 thousand rupees.

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Hinduism featured prominently in the BJP’s election manifesto, including the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the repeal of Article 370 and the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code. The Congress had shown the achievements of Narasimha Rao. It promised to alleviate poverty and employment. As expected, BJP emerged as the largest party but did not come close to the majority. He had won 161 constituencies showing a greater performance than last time. 41 seats more than 1991. The Congress had only won in 140 constituencies. The Congress was badly defeated in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. What is special is that in this election the dacoit queen Poolan Devi from Chambal Valley won from Mirzapur and entered Parliament.

Although he was the largest party, Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not claim to form the government. President Shankaradayal Sharma did not know who to invite to form the government. Finally, after discussing with Narasimha Rao, Dayal invited Atal.

Initially, Vajpayee seemed to be in a dilemma whether to accept this or not. Because after the destruction of Babri Masjid, most of the parties were of the opinion that the BJP was untouchable. There was no guarantee that they would have the support of non-partisans and other parties. Yet on 16 May 1996, seventy-one-year-old Vajpayee was sworn in as India’s tenth Prime Minister. The President gave two weeks time to prove a majority. Vajpayee joined forces with Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Pramod Mahajan and Jaswant Singh to seek support from other parties.

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During those 13 days, Atal Bihari Vajpayee made serious efforts to conduct a nuclear weapons test. Vajpayee’s government lasted only thirteen days. Atal was defeated by just one vote. Then there were some startling developments in Delhi. Deve Gowda, who hails from Karnataka, became the Prime Minister!

Written by: Chandrasekhar Mandekolu
Assistant News Editor

History of Lok Sabha Elections: The anticipation for the Lok Sabha elections continues across the country. From the country’s first prime minister to the current prime minister, everyone has contributed in one way or another to make the country that was poor in the history of India great, to be celebrated by the world today. In this backdrop, your News 18 Kannada presents an exciting story of every Lok Sabha election held between 1947 and 2024 in the form of a series.

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