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India's Hindu nationalists win local confidence vote
Chief minister reclaims job in largest state
In this story: February 26, 1998
Web posted at: 12:51 p.m. EST (1751 GMT)LUCKNOW, India (CNN) -- India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a confidence vote in the legislative assembly of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.
The 225-196 vote -- five days after the state governor dismissed the BJP as the ruling coalition -- followed a bitter struggle for power in India's most populous and politically crucial state. The political battle has overshadowed national elections.
The BJP -- which pre-election opinion polls showed was set to win the most seats in the lower house of parliament -- said the Uttar Pradesh victory would boost its chances in the last main phase of voting on Saturday.
Voting has already been held over three days this month for most of the seats in the federal Parliament. Three more days of balloting remain, and counting is to begin on March 2.
Political battle won, but not the war
Thursday's vote allows Chief Minister Kalyan Singh to reclaim his office. Nearly 300 supporters mobbed him as he came out of the legislature and showered him with rose petals. "Long Live Kalyan Singh," they chanted.
"I consider this victory for democracy," Singh told reporters.
But his rival refused to accept defeat.
"It's a victory bought with moneybags. I will challenge it before the Supreme Court," said Jagdambika Pal of the Lok Tantrik Congress Party.
The BJP demanded that state Gov. Romesh Bhandari be dismissed. "The governor is a self-condemned man before the nation," said BJP spokesman Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi.
On Saturday, two of the BJP's smaller allies walked out of the state ruling coalition. Bhandari accepted the word of the breakaway parties that they had a legislative majority and installed Pal as Uttar Pradesh's chief minister.
Pal was supported by socialists, centrists and a low-caste group. However, a court later overturned Bhandari's move, and the Supreme Court ordered the confidence vote.
Feared violence doesn't occur
Fearing violence, microphones were removed and cellular phones and briefcases banned from the legislature before the voting began Thursday. More than 6,000 police guarded the state legislature building.
Hundreds of police, some with riot shields and tear gas canisters, patrolled the streets outside the legislature.
State lawmakers marked ballots with their choice and dropped them into a box. The voting was delayed by about an hour, when some legislators objected to the seating arrangements.
Speaker Kesrinath Tripathi was only able to start the vote after conceding to demands that both contenders for chief minister be seated side by side at the head of the chamber.
On October 21, several legislators in the 425-member assembly were injured in brawls among members just before a confidence vote. Members wrenched microphones from their sockets and hurled them and name plates at one another.
Bhandari's dismissal of the state government came a day before voting for the federal Parliament in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP alleged the move was intended to boost the chances of anti-BJP parties in the election.
The state governor is appointed by the federal government to oversee the state administration. The BJP, which had been in power five months when Bhandari dismissed it, complained the governor did not give the party a chance to show it could put together a majority coalition in the legislature.
Singh on Wednesday gathered loyal lawmakers into a motel outside the state capital of Lucknow, where they stayed overnight, the Times of India newspaper said Thursday.
The BJP hired armed guards to patrol the motel to prevent opposition leaders from luring away legislators whose support for Singh might have wavered, the newspaper said.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Violence climbs in India election - February 23, 1998
- Troubles mount as India launches 2nd voting round - February 22, 1998
- India elections under way - February 15, 1998
Related sites:
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- Bharatiya Janata Party,India
- Press Trust of India
- Indian Politics: The Economic Times
- Hindustan Times
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