The United Front was a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

of 13 political parties formed in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

after the 1996 general elections. It formed two governments in India between 1996 and 1998. N. Chandrababu Naidu of the

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (TDP; ) is an Indian regional political party primarily active in the Federated state, states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It was founded by Telugu cinema, Telugu matinée idol N. T. Rama Rao (NTR) on 29 March 1982 a ...

served as the convener of United Front. The United Front was headquartered at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. During its tenure, the government was led by two

prime ministers A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

belonging to the

Janata Dal Janata Dal () was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Na ...

– H. D. Deve Gowda and I. K. Gujral

Background

The Indian general election in 1996 returned a fractured verdict. With the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

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 poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

was sworn in as the prime minister. However, he was unable to get a majority in parliament, and the government dissolved 13 days later. At a meeting of all the other parties, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, with a substantial 140 seats, declined to head the government and agreed to extend outside support to the coalition, whereas the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

agreed to join the coalition with the

at its head, named the United Front. With the approval of the Congress and CPI(M), the sitting chief minister of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, 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 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. The Congress revoked its support for Gowda amidst discontent over communication between the coalition and the Congress. It compromised to support a new government under I. K. Gujral, who served as the prime minister from 21 April 1997 to 19 March 1998. Following the collapse of his government, fresh elections were called, and the United Front lost power. Later, when N. Chandrababu Naidu stepped down as convener of the United Front to extend outside support to the National Democratic Alliance, the coalition disbanded.

Electoral performance

List of prime ministers

Coalition members

References

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