Author’s Note : Please read Part I (and disclaimer) here, Part II and Part III before reading this post.

The elections in 1989 would usher in a decade of political instability in India. No single party would gain the majority in the Lok Sabha for the first time. Congress (I) was the leading party with 195 seats, but well short of the 272 needed for majority. The Janata Party, reorganized as the Janata Dal, formed a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (erstwhile Jan Sangh) and regional parties to form the government. However, the coalition would not last long and another one, with the support of Congress (I), would be propped up, which also failed quickly.

Fresh elections in 1991 would bring Congress (I) to power, though they again failed to achieve majority. They would receive support from other parties to notch up the government. Though they saw through their time, another unstable coalition regime was propped up in 1996, after the next general elections, which would collapse and reorganize and then collapse, eventually leading to another quick election.

The decade of 1989 – 1999 saw Congress (I)’s vote share nearly half – from 49% in 1984 to 28% in 1999. Bharatiya Janata Party, the reorganized Jan Sangh, would steadily climb the party pyramid increasing from 8% in 1984 to 24% in 1999. However neither party would have the ability to form a government on their own.
The Janata contingent which gave opposition to Congress in the early years of the republic would collapse into state based regional parties. Their combined vote share would remain more or less constant through the decade, fluctuating between 12-15%, while the communist parties moved around 8-10%.

The period also saw the growth of home grown regional parties. The pro Tamil Dravida parties had been around since the 1960s, but more parties like the pro-Telugu Telugu Desam Party, pro-Mahratti Shiv Sena, pro-Assam Asom Gana Parishad & Uttar Pradesh based pro-Dalit Bahujan Samaj Party would gain headway within the electorate.

Congress (I) would have rebellion issues as well. After the quick assassinations of Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi, the party lacked a proper direction for leadership, similar to the one after Nehru’s death. There would be many leaders who would distance themselves from the new Congress (I) regime like Arjun Singh, Narayan Tiwari, Madhavrao Schindhia and Sharad Pawar. Although many would eventually return, the last among them, Sharad Pawar, would form the Maharashtra based Nationalist Congress Party.

With the addition of the former Janata parties and the Congress offshoots, the regional vote pie would grow from 6% in 1980 to 34% in 1999. The national parties, Congress (I), BJP and the Janata (while they still a single party) would garner 70% of the votes in the 1980s, but this would fall in the 1990s to less than 50%, with the collapse of Janata and the steady decline of Congress (I).

One fall-out of the frequent changes of party by politicians was to put into word and practice, the Anti Defection Act establishing the primacy of the political party over the politician.

1999 would finally bring back a sense of stability with a seemingly stable coalition propped up by BJP. However, the stability was more on paper than in practice as the national parties grew more dependent on aid from the regional parties. The same scenario would repeat in 2004, though Congress (I) would form the government.

The elections in 1988 would usher in a decade of political stability in Pakistan, for Pakistan’s standards. With the death of General Zia, civilian government would return with Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, leading PPP to majority. However, the Pakistani Presidency, a remnant of the Zia regime which had sweeping powers over the legislature, would dismiss the government after allegations of corruption. Another government headed by the newly formed Pakistan Muslim League (N) headed by one of Zia appointed civilian government’s key ministers, Nawaz Sharif, would take charge. He also had to deal with a power struggle with the President leading to new elections in 1993 and the resignation of the President. PPP would gain majority with the help of independents and allies. That government would also be dismissed by the President later in 1997, leading to a return for Nawaz Sharif to the government. However a military coup in 1999 would change the political environment yet again and civilian government would be brought back only almost a decade later, after popular unrest and uncomfortable union between PPP and PML – N.

**
Breakup of groupings used
Congress – Indian National Congress and after 1969 Congress (I)
BJP – Jan Sangh, Hindhu Mahasabha, Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad & Bharatiya Janata Party
Janata – Socialist Party of India, Kizan Mazdoor Praja Party, Praja Socialist Party, Socialist Party (Lohia), Samyuktha Socialist Party, Bharatiya Lok Dal, Janata Party, Janata Party (Secular), Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Gujarat), Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular), Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samata Party, Samajwadhi Janata Party (Rashtriya). Rashtriya Lok Dal
Left – Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), All India Forward Bloc & Revolutionary Socialist Party
Liberal – Swatantra Party
BSP – Bahujan Samaj Party
Dravida – Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Pattali Makkal Katchi, Maraumularchi Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam, MGR Anna Dravid Kazhagam
Congress Rebels – Congress (O), Congress (U), Congress (S), Bangla Congress, Utkal Congress, Jana Congress, Bharatiya Kranti Dal, Nationalist Congree Party, Tamil Maanila Congress, Nationalist Trinamul Congress, Haryana Vikas Party, Himachal Vikas Party, Himachal Vikas Congress, Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress, Arunachal Congress, Manipyr State Congress Party, Karnataka Congress Party, Akhil Bharatiya Lok Tantrik Congress

***
Breakup of groupings used
National – Congress, Janata (1977-1991), BJP (1984- )
Idealogical – Janata (1947-1977), Left, Liberal
Regional – Political parties who derive their votes primarily from a single state.

Andhra Pradesh – People’s Democratic Front, Praja Party, Telengana Praja Samiti, Telugu Desom Party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Telengana Rashtra Samiti
Arunachal Pradesh – Arunachal Congress
Assam – Asom Gana Parishad, United Minorities Front Assam, Autonomous State Demand Committee, Natun Asom Gana Parishad, Plains Tribal Council of Assam
Bihar – Jharkhand Party, Chota Nagpur Santhal Praganas Janata Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party
Goa – Different factions of United Goans, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party
Gujarat – Nutan Maha Gujarat Janata Parishad, Janata Dal (Gujarat)
Haryana – Haryana Lok Samiti, Vishal Haryana, Haryana Vikas Party, Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya), Indian National Lok Dal
Himachal Pradesh – Himachal Vikas Party, Himachal Vikas Congress
Jammu & Kashmir – National Conference, People’s Democractic Party, Panther’s Party (Only J&K parties in all cases)
Jharkhand – Jharkhan Mukti Morcha
Karnataka – Karnataka Congress Party, Janata Dal (Secular)
Kerala – Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress Party, Indian Union Muslim League, Different factions of Kerala Congress (incl IFDP)
Madhya Pradesh – Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress
Maharashtra – Different factions of Republican Party of India, Peasants and Workers Party of India, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party
Manipur – Manipur People’s Party, Manipur State Congress Party
Mizoram – Mizo National Front
Nagaland – United Front of Nagaland, Nagaland People’s Council
Orissa – Utkal Congress, Biju Janata Dal
Punjab – Different factions of Shiromani Akali Dal
Sikkim – Sikkim Janata Parishad, Sikkim Democratic Front
Tamil Nadu – Different offshoots of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Tamil Nadu Toilers’ Party, Madras State Muslim League Party, Tamil Maanila Congress
Uttar Pradesh – Bharat Kranti Dal, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)
West Bengal – Bangla Congress, Nationalist Trinamool Congress