The back story

The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal was the precipitating factor that brought about this political cliffhanger - but what are the...

The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal was the precipitating factor that brought about this political cliffhanger 8211; but what are the issues that have brought earlier governments to the brink? Tridivesh Singh Maini recaps the history behind the untimely demise of previous governments.

8226;V.P. Singh, Prime Minister from December 1989 8211; November 1990 faced a trust vote in November 1990 and lost. One of his allies, the BJP withdrew support after he issued orders for the arrest of senior party leader L.K. Advani at Samastipur, Bihar on October 23, 1990 during his rath yatra to Ayodhya 8212; the disputed site of the Ram Janambhoomi Temple. The Congress Party also voted against Singh8217;s government 8212; which was facing increasing flak all over the country for tensions caused by the implementation of the Mandal Commission report.

8226; Chandra Shekhar, Prime Minister from November 1990 8211; March 1991 resigned and did not face a trust vote because the Congress withdrew support from Shekhar8217;s government. The Congress accused Chandra Shekhar of placing Congress chief Rajiv Gandhi8217;s house under surveillance.

8226; H.D. Deve Gowda June 1996- April 1997 who won a trust vote in 1996, lost the vote in April 1997 because the Congress headed by Sitaram Kesri withdrew support. While the immediate reasons listed by Sitaram Kesri were flimsy, the main reason, it is suspected, was that, the CBI headed by one of Gowda8217;s trusted lieutenants 8212; Joginder Singh 8212; was framing corruption charges against Kesri.

8226; I.K Gujral8217;s government April 1997 8211; November 1997 fell when the Congress withdrew support from the United Front Government over the Jain Commission report. The Jain Commission report was set up to inquire into the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and it indicted the DMK 8212; a part of Gujral8217;s coalition and cabinet 8212; for supporting the LTTE, which was responsible for Rajiv Gandhi8217;s assassination in May 1991. The report was tabled on November 19, 1997 and the Congress tried to pressurise Gujral to snap links with the DMK but Gujral refused to buckle under pressure. The Congress finally withdrew support on November 28, 1997.

8226; A.B. Vajpayee Prime Minister from March 1998- April 1999 and October 1999- May 2004 faced a trust vote in April 1999 and lost after Jayalalithaa8217;s AIADMK withdrew support. While tension had been brewing for a long time and her party only needed a pretext to withdraw support, the immediate reason for Jayalalithaa withdrawing support was the sacking of naval chief, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat by the then Defence Minister George Fernandes. Jayalalithaa also wanted the government to investigate corruption charges which Bhagwat had made against George Fernandes.

8226; And now, on July 8, the Left parties withdrew support to the Congress Government headed by Manmohan Singh. The Left Parties which were opposed to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal from the very beginning decided to withdraw support when they came to know that the government would approach the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA for inking an India-specific safeguards agreement, which is a precursor for operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal.