Chamber:
	Lok Sabha
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	27 April 1996 30 May 1996
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the popularly chosen seats of the Lok Sabha on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The dates of the 1996 general elections were announced on 19 March, with voting to be staggered by region to ensure proper deployment of security forces. Polling in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, where Muslim rebels are waging a separatist insurgency, was scheduled at the end of the month-long period. For the 543 elective Lok Sabha seats at stake, the ruling Indian National Congress party of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was mainly challenged, on the one hand, by the second-placed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and its allies and, on the other hand, by a broad United Front coalition comprising the Left Front and the Janata Dal (JD). During the three-week campaign, Prime Minister Rao pointed to the economic reforms and gains achieved during his five-year Administration, the threat to these if the opposition took over, and accused the BJP of fomenting religious divisions. Led by Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, the right-wing BJP, for its part, advocated Hindu cultural nationalism, favoured restrictions on foreign investment and called for an independent nuclear weapons policy, free from Western pressure. The Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of Mr. Jyoti Basu and the centrist, low-caste JD of Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav diverged in their views, especially on economic reform, mirroring the mosaic of their 14-party alliance. Altogether 13,952 candidates were in contention: 10,635 independents and 3,317 fielded by eight national and 39 regional parties. The first polling day was generally peaceful nation-wide, marked by sporadic violence, and saw a relatively high turnout by one of the world's largest electorates. Of the 150 seats then at stake, the majority were captured by the BJP grouping. This pattern continued subsequently but, in the final analysis, no simple party or alliance secured the absolute majority of 272 seats. The overall outcome resulted in a "hung" and unprecedently fragmented Parliament, its members representing a vast array of castes, regions and languages. Analysts attributed the heavy losses of the Congress in no small part to the party's corruption-tainted and worn image after years in power. On 16 May, Mr. Vajpayee became Prime Minister at the head of a BJP-led Government only to resign 13 days later, yielding to Mr. Deve Gowda of JD and a United Front coalition Government. On 1 June, Mr. Gowda was sworn in as Prime Minister and head of a 21-member Cabinet.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (27 April 1996): Elections results
Number of registered electors	592,572,288
Voters	343,308,035 (57.94%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	8,434,749
Valid votes	334,873,286

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	161
Indian National Congress	140
Janata Dal (JD)	46
Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M)	32
Tamil Manila Congress (TMC)	20
Samajwadi (Socialist) Party	17
Dravid Progressive Federation (DMK)	17
Telugu Desam (N)	16
Shiv Sena	15
Communist Party of India (CPI)	12
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)	11
Samata Party	8
Akali Dal	8
Independents	9
Others	31

Comments:
	Excluding two appointed seats

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	501
Women:	39

Distribution of seats according to age:
Under 31 years	40
31-40 years	139
41-50 years	151
51-60 years	117
61-70 years	64
Over 70 years	6
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Agriculturists/ horticulturists	205
Political or social workers	101
Lawyers	66
Teachers	42
Businessmen	31
Medical practitioners	16
Traders/ industrialists	15
Civil/military/police services	13
Engineers/ technologists	9
Journalists/ writers	8
Artists/ film industry	7
Others	14