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Home , Balram Jakhar, Dhanik Lal Mandal, Governor (India), Haryana Vikas Party, Sheila Kaul, Virendra Verma

Volume 37 Number {Supplement) Keesing's Record of Wol"rc lffim,

ram Jakhar (Agriculture); S. B. Chavan (JKNC, Farooq Abduilah l.); - rcbcls [see p. 3785a]. Meanwhile the fertilizer subsidies rrn ,m o (Home Affain); M. L. Fotcdar (Health J harkhand N{ukti l\'lorcha; Nlanipur Ayodhya issue continued to cause defence tpending. The bx"- ,q and Family Wclfarc); Chulam Bani People's Party; Nagalarrd People's scrious unrest during lare 1990, with have been introduceC ry Azad (Parliarnentary Affairs); C. K. Council; Shironrani Akali Dal (Sin- closc to a thousand pcople being killed Shekhar's govenune{xt !r Jaffer Sharief (Railways); Sheila Kaul ranjit Singh Mann prcs.); Sikkinr in communal violence across the but had been pmtpoffic nG tn' (Urban Development); Sitarcm Kesri Sangranr Parishad; Telegu f)esanr courltry. The situation calmed in l99l gress (I) pressue [for **{r (Welfare); K. Vijaya Bhaskara Rcddy (TD, Nandmuri Tarak Rarna Rao prcs., ius Moslcrns and Hindus cntcred into talotto *gasrues and rhr (Law,, Justicc and Company Affain); P. Upendra gcn. sec.). discussion. 38337; for 1990 hd€tj Madhav Rao Scindia (Civil Aviation Elections Chandra Shekhar's efforts at keeping the Singh goverruneot i@. mdl and Tourisrn); B. Shankaranand (Pe- pp. his rninority govemment at'loat ended see 37315-161. troleum and Natural Gas); V. C. Shukla Elections to the Lo,t Sablra wcrc held in March 1991. He resigncd, no longer Foreign relationr (Water Resourccs). in May and June l99l [scc pp. 38175- 76;38286-881. willing to meet the political price de- Extemal relaliom rrere l9.rolgl Cabinet changes mlndcd by (l) for its par- increasing tensioo *ith lianrcntary support [see p. 38101]. A In January 1990 Primc Minister V. P. .lggotgl ovERVtEw Kashmir [see belox; p. Singh madc sonrc low-lcvcl appoint- gcncral clection was called for May p. 386311. Relaricns *til V. P. Singh's minority gov- and Chandra Shekhar was askcd to stay ments to the Council of Ministers proved greatly during n. [see cmment collapscd in Novcrnbcr 1990, p. 371461, and canied out thc first on as carctaker Prime Minister. Voting bruary 1991 the lnd.urn only I I nronths aftcr coming to powcr. major expansion of his Ministry in late in thc clections started in mid-May but Affairs Minister V. C $!rd& Singh. who hld c'irtcrcd oilicc prorni- wus postponcd after thc ilssassinalion April [see p. 37378]. In Augr.rst Devi Beijing. The two sdcs qnsd sing a retum to valuc-bascd politics, Rajiv Candhi Lal, the powcrful Deputy Prime Min- of by Tamil separatists sume border trade *fiirit' fu dcparted with the country in a statc of whilc ister and Ministcr of Agriculture, was addressing a rally in Tamil Nadu offsince the 1962 rrnprccedcnted social, cconomic and p. 38175]. Voting resumed in Jure dismissed fronr the Cabinet [see p. [see p. 380061; joint *'orkirg political tunnoil. Singh was rcplaccd and Congrcss (l) ernergcd as the 376531. Maneka Gandhi resigned as victor border issue nret in Nrn by his arch-rival, Chandra Shckhar, pp. Minister of State for Environment and [sce 38286-88]. The victory was far gust 1990 and in Ber.|ng e, who had spcnt the whole of 1 990 court- fronr a resounding one, however, Forcsts in Octobcr lsee p. 3777741. and ing anti-Singh collcagucs within thc owcd much "sympathy vote" Toshiki Kaifu, th€a Pr@ Singh was rcplaced a^s Prime Minister to the Janatu Dal. Chandra Shckhar rnan- Japan, visited lndia in hc on Nov. l0 by Clrandra Shckhar whosc arorscd by Candhi's untimely death. agcd to sccure "outsidc" Corrgrcss (l) (l) Kaifu reportedly adr-hcd Council of Ministcn was sworn in on Congrcss and irs allics gained only support tbr his small band of disside nt cnough scats to fonn a minority gov- need to liberalize tbr Nov.2l [scc pp. 37854-551. Fivc min- Janata Dalrncntbcr.s, but from thc out- party isters resigncd frorn the Chandra Shek- cmmcnt; the pcrfonncd particu- ln Novcmber lndia 199t sct his govcnlmcnt was wcak and bc- har government in February l99l larly badly in its traditional northem a non-perrnanent memk lf holdcn to its patron. " following their disqualification from belt" heartlands, where the BJP Security Council for lWi. mernbemhip of tlte Lok Sabfta rurdcr Thc fall of thc Singh govcmrncnt was madc a major impact, evcntually crncrging as the main opposition party .STATES the anti-defcction laws [scc pp. 38005- ultirnirtcly brouglrr uboul by its rc- gaining 061. The new Prime Ministcr, P. V. sponsc to the long-nurning "tcmplc- and ovcr one-fifth of the total seats. . Narasimlra Rao, was swom in and his mosquc" disputc at Ayodhya in Uttar Following thc victory Congress Northern rilrltf (l) lcadcrs sct Council ol Ministcrs appointed on Pradcsh [scc bclow]. Howcvcr, prcss- about choosing a Prirne Ministcr. The June 21, l99l p. 38288]. The Min- rre on the govemnlcnt had incrcased contcst for Prime Minis- [see A by-election in H"lr_rmlr ister of State for Labour (indepcndcnt markcdly sincc his irttroduciion of a tcr within Congrcss (l) was between constituency in Felruq. charge), K. Ramamurlhy, resigncd in controvcnial job rcscrvations policy in Narasimha Rao, who had replaced voked a crisis *'hich August p. 376531. Thc policy, Gandhi as party presidcnt after his late July [see p. 38337]. fscc V. Sinsr which aimed to reservc 27 pcr ccnt of widow Sonia Gandhi had refined the mined P. r govemment and dE-[arullB Ruling party public-scctor jobs for mcrnbcm of the post, and the Chief Ministcr of Maha- 373151. The electim-,r Congress (l) (P. V. Narasimha Rao, lowcr castcs, provokcd castc-bascd vi- rashtra, Sharad Pawar. Rao won the rupt was cs'm:rnd pres., Balram Jakhar, H. K. L. Bhagat, olcncc across nonhcm (although contcst and persuadcd Pawar to enter affair, Janata Dalby Orn Pnium. Rajendra Kurnari Bajpai, Janardhan it rcccived a largc nrcasurc of support his ncw Cabinct irs Dcfence Minister. the state's conFoversrnr Poojari, Ghularn Nabi Azad, Vithal in the prcdorninantly low-castc south) Tlrc ncw govcmmcnt won a votc of ter. Chauthala n*i rr Narwal Gadgil gcn. sccs. and providcd an issuc around which confidcncc in thc to& SaDlra in mid- the Haryana state Singh's opponents within thc Janata July [scc p. 38337]. a[@ii! parties his post as Chief Other Dal could coalcsce. lt also providcd an Economy he had inherited tu iqrut, Bharatiya Janata Parly (BJP, Murli opportunity for , whorn Singh father, the powerfu.l D-{+r'!1r prcs.); Janata Dal (JD, had dismisscd trs his dcputy in August, lndia's cconomy faltercd during 1990, Minister, Devi I ql.ln S. R. Bommai pres.); Comnrunist to rully opposition to thc govcmncnt and with the impact of thc Gulf war the was countermanded- hu Party of lndia (Marxist) (CPI(M), pp. 37710-l t; 3777 4-751. sitLration worsencd considcrably dur- [scc flected badlv on tbe Jyoti Basu, M. Basavapururaiah, - ing thc fint half of 1991. When Na- In Septembcr supportcrs of thc radical the Jnnata !al. Clr* rrtiqir Harkishan Singh Surjcet ls., E. M. San- rasimha Rao's Congress (I) Vishwa Hindi PurisJzdhad launchcd a karan Namboodiripad gen. sec.); govcrnrncnt came to office in mid- resigned as Chief \{;mr'm march to Ayodhya to bcgirr constnrc- his replacement, Bmmer Conrnrunist Party of lndia (CPI, In- l99l it was faced with a US$70,000 tiorr of a Hindu tcnrplc on thc grounds was a close assaiaar so drajit Gupta gcn. scc.); Sanrajwadi rrillion foreign dcbt burdcn and a long- of thc disuscd Moslcrn mosquc thcrc. (SJP, Devi Lal gcn. slurrding forcigrr-cxchange crisis clan remained in cccna'ir .tf Thc BJP lcadcr, L. K. Advani, had also p. 37452]. I-a i,ur', scc.); ; Revolutionary So- which had continucd dcspite receipt of lsee cmbarkcd on llrc rnarclt and his arrcst ,A'heo cialist Party; Forward Bkrc; lndian a substantial IMF package in January erupted again in latc Octobcr provokcd his pany to appointed as Chief ldrnnm Union l\'loslenr League. [scc p. 38006]. withdraw its support from Singh's 376101. Believirg nrn r Thc nrain rcgionully bascd partics in- govcnrmcnt lscc p. 3777 41. Thc with- Thc Rao govcmmcnt rnovcd swiftly to been struek bet$ea {mrl# cludc: All-lndia Anna Dravida drawal of BJP support intcrlsifrcd divi- try and tacklc thc cconomic crisis. The number of Union xilrorurts Munnetra Kazhaganr (AIADMK, sions within the Junuta Dal, which nlcasurcs includcd the dcvaluation cif rari ly resi gned, prof," 1n@t Jayalalitha Jayaram l.); Asonr Gana quickly split into two factions. ln carly the nrpcc and thc raising of intcrcst self to offer his resipamcn Parishad (ACP, Prafulla Kumar Novcrnber Singh's bclcagucrcd gov- ratcs, and the introduction of radical Chauthala resigned rs Mahanta I.; )Dravida Munnetra cnrmenl lost a votc of contidcrrcc in thc and far-reaching rcfonn packages for in mid-July, to be re,flurld Kahzagam (DMK, Muthuvel Kanrna- Lok Subhu. Congrcss (l) wcrc invitcd Iradc and industry. At thc same time Singh, and Devi I-^a,I nidhi pres., Nanjil K. Manogaran gcn. to form a ncw govemmcnt, but its tlic ncw Finance Ministcr, Manmohan puty Prime Minisrer m sec.); Haryana Vikas Party; Janrnru lcadcr, Rajiv Candhi rcfuscd, offcring Singh, introduccd his first budget 376531. However. rr and Kashnrir National Conference instcad to suppon Chandftr Shckhar's which raised corpoftrtc taxes, and cut Chauthala was om

386t4 Keesing's Record of World Events Volume 37 Number I I (Supplementl

Haryana war. Although after the talk there were dra Shekhar met for talks with Simran- President's rule was extended for six reports skirmishing jit Singh Mann, leader one months pp. Capital: still ofheavy along of of dre lsee 38101-0Q. In April the Kashmir border, at third round rnain Akali factions p. Ruling party: Congress ([) a of flircc Dal [see Chandra Shekfrar suspended Operation (In : talks in Islamabad in late 1990 an 379151. January 1991 senior Akali Bajrang after ULFA provided assur- Governor: Dhanik Lal Mandal agreement not to attack each other's lcadcrs representing the Mann, Badal ances that it would not disrupt forth- mrclear installations was finalized. and Longowal groups merged as a coming national and state-level singlc Akali Dal,to b€ known as Sftiro- elections p. 38151]. Nevertheless, Capital: Sirnla The militants had intensified thcir [see mani Akali Dal, with Mann as its in May the govemment invoked the Ruling parly: Bharatiya Janata campaign in late 1989, prompting thc lcadcr-see p. 37964.) Two months National Security Act as a "precaution- Party govemment to dispatch large numbcrs bcfore the meeting Mann lrad resigned ary measrle" in view elections Chief Minister: Shanta Kumar of troops to the srare and to imposc ofthe irr the Lok protest p. (I) Governor: Vircndm Verma widespread crnfews and press rcsftic- his scat Sabha in at, [see 38192]. Congress won the Jammu and Kashmir tions. Early in 1990 the state's Chief anrong other things, the govemment's State Assembly elections held in early rcfirsal to allow a state legislatue to be June Capital: Srinagar (summcr), Minister, Farooq Abdullah, rcsigncd and Hitashwar Saikia was swom clcctcd. Little smerged from the talk, in as the new Chief Minister [see p. Jammu (wintcr) and Govemor's nrle was imposcd [sec and in February five Sikh militant 382871. D. D. Thakur had resigned as Ruling parly: Under President's pp. 37183-8a1. The Govemor, Jagmo- groups issued a statement denouncing govemor in March 1991 and had been rule han, proceeded to dissolve the State Mann and rejecting dialogue with the replaced by Loknath Mishra. Chief l\{inister: Vacant Assembly and in April all the main govcnrnlent p. 38006]. Neverthe- Governor: Girish Chandra Saksena militant groups were banned, includ- [see Icss. in April l99l leading separalists ing the Jammu and Ktrshrnir Libcration mct with Chandra Shekhar in , A Janata Dclled coalition replaced Capital: Chandigarh Front, the Jamaat- i- Is la mi and the H i z- after which the Prime Minister an- Congress (I) as the Bihar state govem- Ruling parly: President's bul Mujahidin [see p. 37377]. The as- Undcr nounced tliat a large number of Sikh ment following assembly elections in mle sassination in May of Maulvi youths imprisoned for minor offences February 1990. Lallu Prasad Yadav Chief Minister: Vacant Mohammed Farooq, the main Moslem would be released p. 38151]. Later was swom in as the new Chief Minister Governor: Gen. (retd) O. P. religious figure in Kashmir, led to a [see that month il was annourced that na- in early March lsee pp. 37245; 37 3151. i Malhotra scrious detcrioration in tlrc sccurity In March 1991 Mohammed Shafi iUttar Praderh situation. lndian security forccs tional and state-level elcctions would bc hcld in Punjab in mid-June. How- Qureshi was appointed as the new state Capital: clashed with moumers af Farooq's cver, lcss than 30 hours before polling Covemor, replacing B. Satya Narain Ruling party: Bhurutiyu Janata funcral, killing alrnost 50 peoplc. Fol- was due to start, the Election Commis- Reddy, the Govemor of , Party lowing the incident wils rc- sioncr announced a postponement. He who had been given temporary respon- Chief Minister: placcd as statc Govemor by Girish citcd an upsurge in violence during the sibility for Bihar in February following Governor: B. Satya Narain Reddy Chandra Saxcna, Prirne Ministcr V. P. carnpaigning period, including attacks the dismissal of Governor Mohammad Singh's security adviscr [sec p. 3745 1- people Yunus Saleem [see pp. 38006; 38102]. 521. ln June rebels claimed to have on two trains in which 78 had the post of Chicf Minister p. [see formcd a "provisional govemmcnt" dicd [scc pp. 38151; 38287]. 38l0ll. Hc was unablc to command a and, for the firut timc, thcy uscd rockcts stable majority and thc state was placed Uttar Pradesh An anti-Congress (I) coalition (the during one of thcir attacks p. undcr Presidcnt's rule in early April [see Thc BJP dcfeated the JD govemment United lrgislatue Party) took office 375301. ln July Govcmor's rulc cndcd [sec p.38l5ll. Congress (l) won a hcadcd by Mulayen Singh Yadav in in Manipur after state elections held in and Prcsident's nrlc was imposcd. At majority of scats in statc assembly Statc Assembly in May and June 1991. February 1990; Raj Kumar Ranbir tho same tirne Saxena dcclarcd thc cn- elections held in Haryana in May, and Kalyan Singh was swom in as Chief Singh of the Manipur People's Party tire Kashmir Valley a "disturbcd arca", in June Bhajan Lal was swom in as the Ministcr [see p. 38287]. replaced R. K. Jaichandra Singh of thcrcby giving thc sccurity lorccs in- new Congress (l) Chief Minister Congress (D as Chief Minister lseo pp. [see crcased powcrs pp.37610-ll]. p. 382871. [sec .Eastern states 37245-46: for February 1991 split in Ncve(heless, the violence conlinugd Manipur People's Party see p. 380061. Himachal Pradesh into l99l [sce pp. 37653; 38192; The BJP routcd thc Congress (l) gov- 38337-381 and the statc was cxcludcd Congrcss (l) retained control of the Mizoram emrnent in State Assembly elections from the May-June clcctions by Stato Assembly in elections in Fe- laldenga, president of the Mizo Na- held in Febmary 1990, and in March presidential order lsce p. 38101; bruary 1990, and Agong Apang was tional Front and former Chief Minister the BJP's Shanta Kumar rcplaced - 38l5ll. Prcsident's nlle was cxtendcd swom in for a fou(h tcrm as Chief (in 1986-88), died in London in July Virabhadra Singh as Chicf Minister for six more months frorn carly March Ministcr in March [scc pp. 37245]. 1990, aged 62. [see p. 372451. Vircndra Verma re- 1991 [see p. 38101] and again in Scp- Surcndra Nath Dwiwedi replaced - placcd B. Rachaiah as Govemor in De- tembcr lsee p. 38392]. Loknath Mishra as Govemor in March Nagaland cenber 1990 [scc p. 37915]. Punjab l99l [scc p. 38102]. Defections caused Congress (I) to lose Jammu and Kashmir Assam its majority in the state assembly in ! For Septenrber l99l further post- May 1990, and a new Uniled Legisla- ponenrent p. Throughout 1990 militant Moslem of elections see 38,139, Thc scparatist Unitcd Libcration Front ttue Front (ULF) government, headed groups sustaincd a campaign of vi- of Assun (ULFA) crrried out a series In the absence of any concrctc govem- by K. L. Chisi, leader of the Nagaland olence and civil rrnrest in suppo( of of assassinations, kidnappings and ment initiatives, violence in the Punjab People's Council, took office. The their denands for an independent bonrb attacks during 1990, and in late spinrllcd drrring 1990. India Toduy rc- ULF govemment collapsed in Jture, Kashmir or unification with Pakistan. Novcnrber the dctcriorating security portcd that 3,560 pcoplc. tlrc mljority however, and a Congress (I)-NPC india consistcntly claimed that the vi- situation provoked the govemment of thcrn civilians, wcrc killcd in thc coalition (Joint Legislanrre Party), oiencc was organizcd by militants into irnposing Presidcnt's mle pp. statc bctwcon Jan. I and Dcc. ll. [see hcaded by Vamuzo of the NPC, gained traincd in, and fundcd by, Pakistan. 37854-551. Shortly afterwards the se- President's nrle was extcndod in April control [see pp. 37 452; 37 5311. Such clairns wcrc dcnied by the Pakis- curity forccs launched "Operation and October 1990 and in March l99l ran govemmcnt, but, incvitably, the Bajrang" aimed at stifling the unrest. Orissa pp. 373'7'7:3'77751'381011. - conflict had a scvcrcly advcrse cffect [see Ncvcrthelcss, violencc, oftcn aimed at Virendra Verma replaccd Nirrnal - Janata Dal comprehensively defeated on relations bctwcen the two countries. local Congress (l) politicians. conti- (t) Mukarji as Govcmor in Junc and in Congress in State Assembly elec- Border clashes, somc serious, were fre- nucd and in January 1991 ULFA was Dcccmber Vcrma was rcplaccd by tions held in February 1990. Biju Pat- qucnt during I 990 and carly I 99 l. Cc- proscribcd [scc p. 37964j. In Febnrary naik replaced as Gen. O. P. Malhotra pp. 37530-31; Hemendanda Biswal nrrinc intemational concem over the [see ULFA sct out its tcrms for cnlcring into 379t5). Chief Minister lsee p. 372461. possibility of all-out war breaking out ncgotiations with the ccntral govem- ri'as exprcssed on a number of occa- Chandra Shekhar's short-l ivcd govcm- nlcnt, including a withdrawal of West Bengal sions. In July and August 1990 lndian mcnt madc an ilttcmpl to opcn ncgotiil- Prcsident's mle and a ccasefire [see p. The CPI(M) was retumed to power in and Pakistani officials hcld talks aimed tions with militant Sikhs on thc futurc 380061. The next month the group de- State Assembly elections held in May specifically at reducing the chance of of the state. In Dcccmber 1990 Chan- clared a unilateral ceasefire and 1991; Jyoti Basu was swom in for a

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