United Front | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | UF |
| Chairman | N. Chandrababu Naidu |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Dissolved | 1998 |
| Preceded by | National Front |
| Headquarters | Andhra Pradesh Bhavan,New Delhi |
TheUnited Front was acoalition government of 13 political parties formed inIndia after the1996 general elections.[1] It formed two governments in India between 1996 and 1998.N. Chandrababu Naidu of theTelugu Desam Party served as the convener of United Front.[2][3] The United Front was headquartered at theAndhra Pradesh Bhavan inNew Delhi.[4] During its tenure, the government was led by twoprime ministers belonging to theJanata Dal –H. D. Deve Gowda andI. K. Gujral
The Indian general election in 1996 returned a fractured verdict. With theBharatiya Janata Party emerging as the largest party with 161 of 543 seats, it was invited first to form a government. It accepted the offer, andAtal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as the prime minister. However, he was unable to get a majority in parliament, and the government dissolved 13 days later.[5] At a meeting of all the other parties, theIndian National Congress, with a substantial 140 seats, declined to head the government and agreed to extend outside support to the coalition,[6] whereas theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) agreed to join the coalition with theJanata Dal at its head,[7] named the United Front.
With the approval of the Congress and CPI(M), the sitting chief minister ofKarnataka, H. D. Deve Gowda, was asked to head the coalition as Prime Minister afterV. P. Singh andJyoti Basu declined.[8][9] His term was from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997.[10] The Congress revoked its support for Gowda amidst discontent over communication between the coalition and the Congress. It compromised to support a new government underI. 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,[11] and the United Front lost power.[12] Later, when N. Chandrababu Naidu stepped down as convener of the United Front to extend outside support to theNational Democratic Alliance, the coalition disbanded.[13]
| Year | Legislature | Coalition leader | Seats won | Change in seats | Percentage of votes | Vote swing | Outcome | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 11th Lok Sabha | N. Chandrababu Naidu | 305 / 543 |  new | 56.31% | new | Government | [14] |
| 1998 | 12th Lok Sabha | 88 / 543 |  217 | 20.98% | 35.33% | Opposition | [15] |
| No. | Portrait | Name | Term in office | Lok Sabha | Cabinet | Constituency | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Tenure | ||||||||
| 1 |  | H. D. Deve Gowda | 1 June 1996 | 21 April 1997 | 324 days | 11th | Deve Gowda | Rajya Sabha Karnataka | Janata Dal | |
| 2 |  | Inder Kumar Gujral | 21 April 1997 | 19 March 1998 | 332 days | Gujral | Rajya Sabha Bihar | |||
| Party | 1996 (Post-poll alliance) | 1998 (Pre-poll alliance) | Seat Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal support | ||||
| Asom Gana Parishad | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| Communist Party of India | 12 | 9 | 3 | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 32 | 32 | | |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 17 | 6 | 11 | |
| Janata Dal | 46 | 6 | 40 | |
| Samajwadi Party | 17 | 20 |  3 | |
| Tamil Maanila Congress | 20 | 3 | 17 | |
| Telugu Desam Party | 16 | 12 | 4 | |
| External support | ||||
| Indian National Congress | 140 | |||
| Total | 305 | 88 | 217 | |