avslists@mercury.aichem.arizona.edu (LISTS) (06/27/91)
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The India News Network Dige Wed, 26 Jun 91 Volume 1 : Issue 214
SOURCES: SOC.CULTURE.INDIAN and Network Member Contributions
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Today's Topics:
BJP Government Sworn-in In UP
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Date: Tue, 25 Jun 91 19:35:52 PDT
AP News summary:
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LUCKNOW, India : Hindu revivalists were sworn in Monday as the
leaders of India's most populous state, and said they would use the
position as a launching pad for national power. The Bharatiya Janata Party,
which wants to make Hinduism the state religion of India, swept to power
in elections last month in Uttar Pradesh state, the home of the Gandhis
and traditional base of the secular-oriented Congress Party.
But the Congress Party won the national elections and formed a minority
government headed by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Former Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress leader, was assassinated May 21.
It is the first time in independent India's 44-year history that the
party in power in New Delhi has lost control of Uttar Pradesh -- the
nation's heartland and home of its dominant Hindi-speaking population.
"Uttar Pradesh has always directed the country's politics and it has
given a clear verdict this time about India's future," Cabinet member Lalji
Tandon said after the swearing-in ceremony. "We now have to reach that
future."
Tandon spoke before the inauguration of Kalyan Singh, the Bharatiya
Janata leader, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, which lies in
north-central India.
The Hindu party won 211 of 404 seats in the Uttar Pradesh legislature.
Congress won only 46 seats -- its worst showing ever in the state's
elections.
Seven of India's nine prime ministers have come from Uttar Pradesh. Four
of them were Congress Party leaders -- including Gandhi, his mother,
Indira, and grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru.
"The morale of the party is very high. To capture Uttar Pradesh is like
being on the threshold of Delhi," said one senior government official.
The Hindu party's election victory was widely attributed to its 1989
campaign to replace a 16th-century Muslim mosque with a Hindu temple in the
city of Ayodhya, 90 miles east of the state capital of Lucknow.
Hindus were angered when the plan was blocked by the state government,
which ordered police to shoot Hindus who stormed the mosque. At least 20
people were killed. The dispute sparked Hindu-Muslim riots that killed more
than 300 people nationwide.
Although widely seen as anti-Muslim, the Bharatiya Janata says it will
ensure the safety of the state's Muslims. Analysts expect the party to
resolve the temple issue through peaceful negotiations.
End of article
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The above article has been edited to suit the needs of this news group.
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