United Front (India)
Encyclopedia
The United Front was a coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...

 of 13 political parties formed in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 after the 1996 general elections
Indian general election, 1996
General elections were held in India in 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls in 1998. The United Front, was created and got support from 332...

. The coalition formed two governments in India between 1996 and 1998. The government was headed by two Prime Ministers
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...

 from Janata Dal
Janata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...

 - H. D. Deve Gowda
H. D. Deve Gowda
Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda was the 11th Prime Minister of India and the 14th chief minister of the state of Karnataka ....

, and I. K. Gujral. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party
Telugu Desam Party
Telugu Desam Party or TDP is a regional political party in India's Andhra Pradesh state. It was founded by former Telugu film star N. T...

 served as the convener of United Front.

Background

India's general elections in 1996 brought about a fractured verdict. With the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

 emerging as the largest party, with 161 seats, it was invited first to form a government. In 13 days, A. B. Vajpayee's government fell, and other parties met to come up with a solution. The Indian National Congress, with a substantial 140 seats, declined to head the government and along with the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...

, agreed to extend outside support to a coalition with the Janata Dal
Janata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...

 at its head, named the "United Front". Other members of the front included the Samajwadi Party
Samajwadi Party
Samajwadi Party is a political party in India. It is based in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It describes itself as a democratic socialist party...

, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...

, Asom Gana Parishad
Asom Gana Parishad
Asom Gana Parishad is a state political party in Assam, India. The AGP was formed after the historic Assam Accord of 1985 when Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was elected as the youngest chief minister of the country...

, Tamil Maanila Congress
Tamil Maanila Congress
The Tamil Maanila Congress was a political party in Tamil Nadu. It was started by G K Moopanar by breaking away from the Indian National Congress protesting the decision of the party high command to form an alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. After the death of Moopanar, his...

, Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

 and Telugu Desam Party
Telugu Desam Party
Telugu Desam Party or TDP is a regional political party in India's Andhra Pradesh state. It was founded by former Telugu film star N. T...

.

With the approval of the Congress and CPI(M), the sitting Chief Minister of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

, H. D. Deve Gowda
H. D. Deve Gowda
Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda was the 11th Prime Minister of India and the 14th chief minister of the state of Karnataka ....

, was asked to head the coalition as Prime Minister after V. P. Singh
V. P. Singh
Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the seventh Prime Minister of India and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda.-Early life:...

 and Jyoti Basu
Jyoti Basu
Jyoti Basu was an Indian politician belonging to the Communist Party of India from West Bengal, India. He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of any Indian state. Basu was a member of the CPI Politburo from the time of the...

 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.

The United Front was a successor to the National Front
National Front (India)
The National Front was a coalition of political parties, led by the Janata Dal, which formed India's government between 1989 and 1990 under the leadership of N. T. Rama Rao as President and V. P. Singh as Convener. The coalition's prime minister was V. P. Singh...

 with looser cohesion between the parties.

(Another United Front in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n politics was the coalition that held two governments in West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

 1967-1971.)
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