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Rajiv Gandhi greets the crowd at his final election rally. At left is his assassin, Dhanu, whose dress hid an RDX pack stuffed with thousands of ball bearings. Detonation occurred less than 10 minutes after this photo was taken, resulting in 14 dead and dozens injured.
10:38 PM (D-0:08) Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, 21 May 1991
“In the event you win a plurality of both seats and votes but fall short, will you consider a coalition with either Mr Singh or Mr Advani?” “I suggest you ask them. Congress has always formed majority governments and I have confidence we will do so again. There have been two coalitions, in 1977 and 30 months ago, both based not on common principle but a common lust for power at the Centre. As a result, they disintegrate fairly quickly, as you have seen. If I am asked to form a government it will be drawn solely from the ranks of the Congress, whether it is a minority or majority.” “What do you consider to be the defining issue of this election?” “The defining question is a simple one, that of leadership. This government has followed, not led, on every issue that matters nationally, be it religious tolerance, transparency, the economy or foreign affairs.” “Speaking of foreign affairs, while this is your specialty, yesterday the Prime Minister accused you of damaging relations with the United States back in January by attacking him on allowing coalition aircraft to use our airbases for refuelling. How do you respond to that?” [1] “I believe that there should have been consultation with the opposition leaders, I do not disagree with the action taken. Were I in his place I would have also done the same had President Bush requested me to do so.” “What about-““We’re at our destination- follow me. It will be a while; this isn’t a hit-and-run affair, but it will be our last stop of the day.” With that Mark Tully exited the unmarked Humvee and set up backstage, nodding to those on the security detail he knew well.
We need to reach the voters. Yesterday was just-““Prime Minister, I must strongly object. It is pitch-black here and no one can see anything. Wait till the speech is over.” “Fine, if you say so.” The Colonel rolled his eyes and remembered his pre-election briefing: 250% increase in threats, 73% probability of an attempt. I make that call, no one else.
A few dozen metres away, Dhanu stared through the pitch black night. She could barely make out that man, the blood-stained oppressor of her people, at the podium, with some woman besides him. While the aim was hardly perfect, the crowd was slowly squeezing her away. Reaching under her dress, the click of the detonator was inaudible due to the din of the crowd and background noise. Yet nothing happened. Dhanu continued fumbling with the triggers, trying to figure out what had gone wrong...
“When we form the next government and I become Prime Minister again, I need Maragatham Chandrasekhar as a member of our caucus. She will fight for your interests tirelessly in Parliament as she has done in this province for the past six years. What has the government accomplished in the past eighteen months? Nothing except crudely, cynically play off different religions against each other for short-term political gain. They are leading from despair and doubt. Let us look to the future rather than to the communalist past, as the BJP would have it, or subordinated to the whims of one man who has made himself infamous for character assassination, utter hypocrisy and lack of any discernible principle. You must elect a Congress majority government, because regardless of who wins the most seats they will form a fundamentalist-socialist coalition, one that will not last more than 2 years, but such is the price of putting personal ambition above principle. We saw it 2 years ago and it will happen again if given the opportunity. Thank you and remember to vote Congress on Thursday!”
“Sir, we got you some food, that’s why the car was moved.” “Next time let me know, but the food is much appreciated- haven’t eaten since this morning.” “No holds barred, I’m guessing? Looks like a busy schedule tomorrow.” “Tomorrow is one major rally; we resume a regular schedule on the weekend before settling down Saturday night to await the final results. Regardless who comes in second I will have to face that bastard at PMQs, or the communalist demagogue who wears a moderate mask while his members ape Golwakar. [2] Truly distasteful in my opinion, but that’s the price of this job. Needless to say, you never heard that and I didn’t hear you laughing.” “Of course not, but here we are. Thanks for the ride. I’ll be there tomorrow.”
NF headquarters, Delhi, 23 May
VP Singh sat in his office with trusted aides listening to the reports on AIR before meeting the press outside. Of everyone in this election he was perhaps poised to lose the most. Just 4 years previously he had been the #2 man in the government, and prime minister 6 months previously. Now his National Front was poised to place third, and his old friend-turned-archenemy, Rajiv Gandhi, was poised to return to the Prime Minister’s Office after barely 18 months’ exile. We screwed up again just as in 1977 Singh thought to himself. To Singh, perhaps most gallingly, they had fumbled their government for the same reasons as a decade previously. If anything, his countrymen were again buying the line that only Congress was a coherent political party. Yet it hadn’t been so coherent when Rajiv had been blasting his own party’s left wing at the occasion of the Mahatma’s birthday in ’87, or turning back on his economic promises in a last ditch attempt to halt the impending verdict in the 1989 budget. So sensitive to press criticism Singh thought. Yet if he had learned anything, it was not to underestimate Rajiv. Canny bastard, and now he’ll sink or swim in this bloody morass. Outside the questions were harsh and unrelenting: “Mr Singh, if no party wins a majority, will you attempt to reconstitute a coalition with Mr Advani and the regional parties as was the case in 1989?” “Would you be willing to forgo the premiership as a precondition?” Can you clarify your position on the mosque and castes?” All the foreign press are in the tank for Rajiv, as is the Times. It’s the small fry that are supposed to have pretence of objectivity, the twats. Don’t lose your composure, or there goes a news cycle. “To the first question: obviously the party that wins the most seats gets the first shot at forming a government. I will not answer hypothetical questions about who holds which office or coalitions until after the results are in. With regard to the mosque, the answer is in the manifesto, and the same applies to the castes. Thank you, that’s all for today.”
“India’s general election comes to an end today, with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress party projected to form the next government. This election has been marked by violence and a high voter turnout, as Indians go to the polls for the third time in 7 years. Our correspondent Mark Kelly has the story.” “This is Mark Tully here in Delhi outside Congress Party headquarters. The polls will be closing in about 30 minutes and very shortly we will be able to reveal our exit poll data. Here we are seeing a great deal of confidence among Congress supporters that Mr Gandhi will become Prime Minister for the second time at the head of a majority government, though the seat projections range anywhere from 270 to 295 seats depending on the pollster, with 273 needed for a majority.” “Mark, can you tell our listeners what the main issues are in this campaign?” “National unity and the economy are the policy issues being debated, but the ballot question that all three leaders have been framing is that of leadership, something that benefits Messrs Gandhi and Singh as former prime ministers more than Mr Advani, whose BJP party is a close race to form the official opposition with Mr Singh.”
BBC exit polling (May 24-25, 2.3% MOE) What is the most important national issue? National unity: 52% Economy: 30% Terrorism: 15% Foreign policy: 3%
Prime Ministerial preference? Gandhi: 57% Advani 30% Singh: 11%
[3] “It is now 8 PM here in Delhi as the polls close. Our first results will start trickling within the next 20 minutes, so back to you Richard.” “That’s the BBC’s Mark Tully for us in Delhi reporting on the Indian general election, where the polls are now closed and the results are to be expected shortly. On to other news, the Prime Minister told the Commons today that Britain is on track to continue Maastricht negotiations despite Mr Kinnock’s assertion to the contrary...” “Our first results are now trickling in; traditionally the party leaders’ seats are projected first. Messrs Gandhi, Advani and Singh are all poised to retain their constituencies by wide margins, despite a concerted effort by the BJP and Congress to defeat Mr Singh in his Fatephur constituency. First batch of seats incoming: 14 Congress, 8 BJP, 3 NF... Congress has now crossed the threshold of 273 seats needed to form a majority government. Repeat, BBC is now projecting a Congress majority government.” “Mark, what are your sources telling you about the whereabouts of the party leaders?” “I just spoke to one of Mr Gandhi’s press aides, who say that he will be here in about 20 minutes or so to address his supporters and deliver a victory speech. Messrs Singh and Advani are expected to concede shortly afterwards, and the BJP will be forming the official opposition, making Mr Advani the Leader of the Opposition.” “What happens tomorrow, walk us through the process. This process is somewhat longer than our own.” “Well yes Richard it is. Tomorrow Mr Gandhi will be summoned to the presidential palace and commissioned to form a government, making him Prime Minister-designate. Over the next 7 to 10 days- usually one week in the case of a majority government- he will be forming his Cabinet while the outgoing one prepares to leave office. On either the second or fourth of June his Cabinet will be sworn in at the presidential palace, no speeches, and he becomes Prime Minister. Most of the Cabinet are expected to retain their Shadow Cabinet portfolios in government, and we have just confirmed that Mr Rao will formally obtain the title of Deputy Prime Minister, the first since 1968. Sorry Mark, we have to cut you off. Mr Gandhi is about to speak.”
“To all those who voted over this past week, regardless of how you voted, I want to once again be the Prime Minister of the entire nation. I might be the MP for Amethi but my real constituency is the country. The road ahead of us will not be easy or there shortcuts. I do not do this because it is easy, but because it is hard. These times require a single pair of hands on the wheel, and I am grateful that they will be mine... Thank you, I’ll now be taking questions. “How does it feel to be victorious again?” “Humbling, yet thrilling simultaneously.” “Can you give us any hints as to who will be in the Cabinet?” “The list of Shadow Cabinet members will give you plenty of hints, though by no means all.” “What do you see as your biggest challenge?” “Ironically in a secular nation, the issues that concern most citizens, Ayodhya and Mandal- are both religious. [4] Both of those will be my top priorities. Thank you, that is all.”
"While forming the next government was never seriously in doubt, it was not until around 6 AM on 27 May when we finally emerged with an overall majority of 47. Even though I had secured enough votes from regional parties to form a stable minority administration if the need arose, we had explicitly requested a majority government and received one. I knew that if I wanted to do better in 1995 or 1996 we would have to perform to the very highest standards."
Outgoing Prime Minister Chandra Sekhar and Prime Minister-designate Rajiv Gandhi scrum outside the Palace. The transfer of power has been set for June 4.
[1] The Sekhar government had authorized coalition aircraft to use Indian airbases as refuelling stops in January IOTL and got slammed by the opposition parties for doing so. [2] R.S. Golwakar, the RSS founder. [3] Based on a "pressing national issues" poll conducted in March. [4] Ayodhya, scheduledcastes.