1996 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly comprises a total of 426 seats, of which 425 are filled through elections, while one seat is filled through the nomination of an Anglo-Indian member.

Following imposition of President's Rule in UP in October 1995, elections for the 13th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held in September–October 1996. Out of the total 425 seats to be filled through elections, polls were conducted for only 424 seats. The election in the Shikarpur constituency was postponed due to the death of a candidate. No coalition could muster majority for five months after the election. The deadlock was broken when Mayawati was sworn in as Chief Minister with BJP's support in March 1997. During this assembly's term, Kalyan Singh also served as a Chief Minister later.

In this election, Kalyan Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious from two constituencies—Atrauli and Debai; but he subsequently resigned from the Dibai. Similarly, Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party also secured victory from three constituencies—Bilsi, Sri Nagar and Harora; but she retained Harora. In addition to these, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Subhawati Devi of the Samajwadi Party also resigned from the Sahaswan and Maniram, respectively, as they chose to continue serving as members of the Lok Sabha. Therefore, only 420 seats of the 13th Legislative Assembly were filled, and five seats remained vacant after this election

On 17 April 1997, Peter Fanthome was nominated to the Anglo-Indian seat.

By-elections for the five aforementioned vacant seats of the Legislative Assembly were held on 8 February 1997. Subsequently, all 426 seats of the Legislative Assembly were filled. However, a seat in the House once again fell vacant due to the demise of Brahm Dutt Dwivedi, who had been elected to the Legislative Assembly from Farrukhabad from Bharatiya Janata Party. The by-election for this vacancy was conducted on 29 May 1997, as a result of which all 426 seats of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly were once again filled.

Parties and alliances

Bharatiya Janata Party

Samajwadi Alliance

BSP+Congress

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Result

Government Formation

The elections led to a hung assembly, and a further period of President's rule, before the BJP and the BSP formed an alliance with the BJP, allowing Mayawati to become Chief Minister in March 1997. Kalyan Singh became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second time in September 1997, taking the post over from Mayawati as part of their power-sharing agreement. In February 1998, his government withdrew cases against those accused in the Babri Masjid demolition, stating that a Ram temple would be built at the site if the BJP were to take power in Delhi.The BSP and BJP came into conflict over the policies that the BSP government had implemented targeting Dalit social welfare.On 21 October 1997 the BSP withdrew support for Singh's government.

Singh continued in office with the support of a breakaway faction of the BSP, and a breakaway faction of the INC, led by INC MLA Naresh Agrawal, the Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress. Singh's administration ended many of the BSP's Dalit-focused programmes soon after taking office.

On 21 February 1998, Singh's government was dismissed by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Romesh Bhandari, after Agrawal withdrew support to Singh's government. Bhandari invited Jagdambika Pal of the INC to form a new government, in which Agrawal became deputy chief minister.Bhandari's order was stayed by a division bench of the Allahabad High Court, which reinstated Singh's administration two days after its dismissal.

As a member of the Lodhi community, Singh commanded support among Other Backward Class (OBC) groups, and his affiliation with the BJP had allowed it to expand its support beyond its traditional upper-caste base. However, he began to be seen as a "patron of the backward castes" by upper-caste members of his own party, and to face opposition as a result. Dissension within the party occurred at the same time as an increase in crime that Singh's administration was unable to control, and in May 1999, 36 BJP legislators resigned in protest at the continuation of Singh's administration.The BJP's central administration replaced Singh as Chief Minister with Rajnath Singh.