The United Front was a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

of 13 political parties formed in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

after the 1996 general elections. The coalition formed two governments in India between 1996 and 1998. The government was headed by two

Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

from

Janata Dal Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 ...

–

H. D. Deve Gowda Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karn ...

, and I. K. Gujral. N. Chandrababu Naidu of the

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (; TDP) is an Indian regional political party operating in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at the state and central level. Since its founding by N. T. Rama Rao (often referred to as NTR) on 29 March 1982, the party has foc ...

served as the convener of United Front. Headquartered at the

Andhra Pradesh Bhavan Andhra Pradesh Bhavan, popularly known as AP Bhavan, is a Government of Andhra Pradesh owned property in New Delhi. It has accommodation, canteen and auditorium in the premises. AP Bhavan is located on a 19.84 acres of land in New Delhi. It has ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Background

The Indian general election in 1996 returned a fractured verdict. With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging as the largest party, with 161 of 543 seats, it was invited first to form a government. It accepted the offer, and

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

was sworn in as prime minister. However, he was unable to muster a majority on the floor of the house, and the government fell 13 days later.At a meeting of all the other parties, the Indian National Congress, with a substantial 140 seats, declined to head the government and agreed to extend outside support to the coalition. Whereas

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

, agreed to join the coalition with the

at its head,named the "United Front". Other members of the front included the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

Asom Gana Parishad Asom Gana Parishad (translation: ''Assam People's Council'', AGP) is a state political party in Assam, India. The AGP was formed after the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and formally launched at the Golaghat Convention held from 13–14 Octobe ...

Tamil Maanila Congress The Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (; TMC(M)) is an Indian regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is founded by the former Member of Parliament of the Republic of India G. K. Moopanar on 29 March 1996 as a breakaway fact ...

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

and

. With the approval of the Congress and CPI(M), the sitting Chief Minister of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, H. D. Deve Gowda, was asked to head the coalition as Prime Minister after V. P. Singh and Jyoti Basu declined. His term was from June 1, 1996 – April 21, 1997. The Congress revoked its support to Gowda amidst discontent over communication between the coalition and the Congress. It compromised to support a new government under I. K. Gujral, who was Prime Minister from April 21, 1997 – March 19, 1998. Following the collapse of his government, fresh elections were called, and the United Front lost power. Later with the exit of N. Chandrababu Naidu as the convener of UF to extend outside support to

NDA NDA may stand for: Military * National Defence Academy (India), a military academy in India * National Defence Act, legislation for organizing and funding Canada's military * National Defense Academy of Japan, a military academy in Japan * Nig ...

, United Front collapsed.

Electoral performance

List of prime ministers

Coalition members

References

{{Indian political parties Political parties in India Coalition governments of India Gowda administration Gujral administration 1996 establishments in India Political parties established in 1996