General (11th Lok Sabha) Election Results India

India General Election Results - 1996

In 1996 the country witnessed the 11th Lok Sabha or General Elections, the results of which were rather strange. After the counting of votes was over, the nation saw a hung parliament. With a rather apparent decline of the INC in the whole country, every other party was now seen forge alliances so as to get the most seats to make a government. The political instability led to the country seeing as many as three Prime Ministers in the next two years.

The political scenario
During the Lok Sabha Elections of 1996, the Prime Minister was P. V. Narasimha Rao of the INC. But he suffered a setback because of various scandals and corruption charges. The Rao government's credibility fell further when it failed on issues like violence in Kashmir and ethnic tensions in Punjab. The falling public support pushed the country into the 1996 general elections.

Since no party was expected to have a full majority in coming elections, all the major political forces were trying to form coalitions with smaller and regional parties. Apart from the Congress and the BJP, the National Front emerged as a so-called strong contender as it was a coalition of parties like the Janata Dal, the Telugu Desam and the Left Front, which later joined the Samajvadi Party with a common agenda to deny power to either the Congress or the BJP. Another strong feature that was seen in the 1996 general elections was that several strong political parties, including regional and state parties, declined to be allied with any of the three main contenders for the power.

The BJP put on its agenda a four-point plan that was focused on self-reliance in the economy, probity of public life, social harmony and greater security. It also stressed on a Hindu oriented state, encouraging capital investment and removing the special status of Kashmir.

The Congress, in its campaign, stressed on its past achievements like foreign policy record, handling of several natural and ethnic crises, concessions for ethnic minorities, and economic gains without following strong liberalization economic policy. The Janata Dal and the National Front focused on issues like developing a strong public sector by using deregulation and anti-corruption measures. Moreover, the alliance was trying to gain popularity over things like increased education investment, state-run infrastructure projects and subsidized fertilizer.

11th Lok Sabha Results
As was predicted in opinion polls, no single party could attain majority in the center. However, it was the BJP that won the most seats (161). Its allies were Samata Party, Shiva Sena and Haryana Vikas Party. The allies could win a total of 26 seats, thus making BJP get a total 187 seats. The INC got the second position, while the National Front, Janata Dal and Let Front could win only 114 seats.

Below is a table showing the results for the 1996 general elections state wise.

State	Winning Party	Number of Seats
Andaman And Nicobar Islands	INC	1
Andhra Pradesh	AIMIM	1
	CPI	2
	CPM	1
	INC	22
	TDP	16
Arunachal Pradesh	IND	2
Assam	AGP	5
	ASDC	1
	BJP	1
	CPM	1
	INC	5
	IND	1
Bihar	BJP	18
	CPI	3
	INC	2
	IND	1
	JD	22
	JMM	1
	SAP	6
	SP	1
Chandigarh	BJP	1
Dadra And Nagar Haveli	INC	1
Daman And Diu	INC	1
Goa	MAG	1
	UGDP	1
Gujarat	BJP	16
	INC	10
Haryana	BJP	4
	HVP	3
	INC	2
	IND	1
Himachal Pradesh	INC	4
Jammu & Kashmir	BJP	1
	INC	4
	JD	1
Karnataka	BJP	6
	INC	5
	JD	16
	KCP	1
Kerala	CPI	2
	CPM	5
	INC	7
	IND	1
	JD	1
	KEC(M)	1
	MUL	2
	RSP	1
Lakshadweep	INC	1
Madhya Pradesh	AIIC(T)	1
	BJP	27
	BSP	2
	INC	8
	IND	1
	MPVC	1
Maharashtra	BJP	18
	INC	15
	SHS	15
Manipur	INC	2
Meghalaya	INC	1
	IND	1
Mizoram	INC	1
Nagaland	INC	1
Delhi	BJP	5
	INC	2
Orissa	INC	16
	JD	4
	SAP	1
Pondicherry	INC	1
Punjab	BSP	3
	INC	2
	SAD	8
Rajasthan	AIIC(T)	1
	BJP	12
	INC	12
Sikkim	SDF	1
Tamil Nadu	CPI	2
	DMK	17
	TMC(M)	20
Tripura	CPM	2
Uttar Pradesh	JD	1
	AIIC(T)	2
	BJP	52
	BSP	6
	INC	5
	IND	1
	JD	1
	SAP	1
	SP	16
West Bengal	CPI	1
	CPI	2
	CPM	23
	FBL	3
	INC	9
	RSP	4
Total Result		543

List of winner and runner MPs in 1996 General Elections