1992 New Delhi by-election

In June 1992 a by-election was held for the New Delhi seat in the Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament of India).[1] The by-election was called after the resignation of the incumbent Member of Parliament L.K. Advani.[2]

1992 New Delhi Lok Sabha seat by-election

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Candidate Rajesh Khanna Shatrughan Sinha
Party INC BJP

Background

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Bharatiya Janata Party leader Advani had won the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat in the 1989 and 1991 general elections.[3] However, Advani had also won the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat in 1991, and thus opted to resign from the New Delhi seat.[4]

The by-election was originally scheduled for November 1991, but was countermanded after the death of candidate Mukesh Kumar Garg of Kanpur.[4][5]

Candidates

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A whopping 125 candidates contested the by-election.[2] The two main candidates were Bollywood star actors.[6] The Indian National Congress fielded film star Rajesh Khanna as their candidate in the by-election.[3] Khanna had contested against Advani in the 1991 election in New Delhi, and lost by a mere 1,589 votes.[1] In the 1992 by-election his main opponent was another actor, Shatrughan Sinha of the BJP.[1][7] Sinha, nicknamed 'Shotgun', had campaigned for the non-Congress opposition in the 1989, but without affiliating with any party at the time.[8][9][10] In his 1992 campaign Sinha adopted a tough stance against Khanna and Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, challenging the Congress government on election promises made in the 1991 campaign.[8] India Today compared his election rhetoric to his performance as the rogue Chhannoo in the 1971 hit Mere Apne.[8] BJP leaders campaigning on behalf of Sinha included Uma Bharti, Madan Lal Khurana, and Vijay Kumar Malhotra.[8] Advani was notably absent from the campaign.[9]

Khanna's campaigners included H.K.L. Bhagat, R.K. Dhawan, and Vidya Charan Shukla.[8] It was reported that H.K.L. Bhagat had also sought the Congress nomination for the by-election.[8]

The wives of the two contending film stars, Dimple Kapadia and Poonam Sinha, played a prominent role in mobilizing crowds for their husband's campaign rallies.[8]

Jai Bhagwan Jatav stood as the Janata Dal candidate in the by-election.[8] Jatav was expected to do well amongst Muslim voters.[8] In the buildup to the demolition of the Babri Masjid later in 1992, Muslims tended to perceive P.V. Narasimha Rao's Congress as taking a soft stance on the advance of the Hindutva movement.[11]

Independent candidate Phoolan Devi, known internationally as the 'Bandit Queen', was in jail at the time of the by-election.[2][12][13] Devi had been imprisoned without trial since 1983 on around 50 charges, including murder.[12]

Result

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Candidate Party Votes %
Rajesh Khanna Indian National Congress 101,625 52.51
Shatrughan Sinha Bharatiya Janata Party 73,369 37.91
J.B. Jatav Janata Dal 10,638 5.50
S. Kumar Independent 1,135 0.59
Phoolan Devi Independent 753 0.39
Y. Qureshi Independent 518 0.27
G. Singh Independent 450 0.23
H. Raj Independent 282 0.15
N. Singh Independent 208 0.11
H.S. Gill RJMP 186 0.10
M.C. Malhotra Independent 178 0.09
N.K. Verma CP 174 0.09
R. Kumar Independent 169 0.09
A.S. Chaprana Independent 144 0.07
R.C. Jain HNP 132 0.07
J. Bhagwan Independent 115 0.06
S. Chand Independent 114 0.06
V. Davind Independent 107 0.06
Allauddin Independent 103 0.05
V.N. Tripathi Independent 103 0.05
S.P.S. Ahluwalia Independent 99 0.05
R. Kumar Independent 98 0.05
Gulshan Independent 97 0.05
I.P. Singh SP 92 0.05
S.C. Saxena Independent 91 0.05
S. Singh Independent 86 0.04
R. K. Shukla Independent 80 0.04
S. Kumar Independent 72 0.04
M. Gupta Independent 71 0.04
H. C. Rana Independent 65 0.03
S. Lal Independent 61 0.03
M. Gupta Independent 60 0.03
V.S. Tripathi Socialist Party (Ramakant Pandey) 52 0.03
K. Lal Independent 50 0.03
Bhagirath Independent 50 0.03
Mohammed Bilal Independent 50 0.03
N. Kumar Independent 49 0.03
R. Prakash Independent 48 0.02
S. Pal ABDND 48 0.02
A. Pathak LD 46 0.02
S. S. Rathi PRP 46 0.02
A. Thakur Independent 44 0.02
R. N. Shastri ABBDP 44 0.02
M. Mo. A. Hussain Independent 42 0.02
S. Vayas Independent 41 0.02
A. Kumar Independent 39 0.02
N. Kishore Independent 38 0.02
K. K. Babbar Independent 37 0.02
S. Sachdevga Independent 35 0.02
A. Nath Independent 33 0.02
G. Krishna Independent 33 0.02
Arun Independent 32 0.02
P.C. Jain Akhand Bharat Mahasang Sarvahara Krantikari Party 32 0.02
V. Kumar Independent 32 0.02
N. S. M. Nayyar Independent 31 0.02
G. Singh Independent 28 0.01
R. K. Mittal Independent 28 0.01
S. Parkash Independent 28 0.01
R. S. Bedi Independent 26 0.01
B. D. Bhart Independent 26 0.01
S. Lal Independent 26 0.01
M. Lal Independent 25 0.01
Dr. A.Q. Burni Independent 24 0.01
P. P. Verma Independent 24 0.01
Mohammed Adil Independent 24 0.01
K. D. Mishra Independent 23 0.01
C. L. Balmiki Independent 23 0.01
B. Mukand Independent 23 0.01
S. Ram Independent 23 0.01
O. alias Charrawala Independent 22 0.01
R. R. Dubey alias R. Gandhi Independent 22 0.01
K. K. Virmani Independent 21 0.01
Sanjay Independent 21 0.01
D. D. Suri Independent 20 0.01
G. Bhai Independent 19 0.01
K. K. Dogra Independent 19 0.01
B. Pal Independent 19 0.01
Mahabir Independent 19 0.01
R. K. Bajaj Independent 19 0.01
V. Gupta Independent 19 0.01
C. Prakash Independent 18 0.01
KM. J. Carunia Independent 18 0.01
Mohammed. H. Sagar Independent 18 0.01
Dr. S.P. Gupta Independent 17 0.01
J. Saxena Independent 17 0.01
D. Sharma Independent 17 0.01
N. Singh Independent 17 0.01
S. I. Prakash Independent 17 0.01
E. Imamy Independent 16 0.01
C. Bhan Independent 16 0.01
D. Gupta Independent 16 0.01
R. R. Gurusarwala Independent 16 0.01
R. Kumar Independent 16 0.01
D. Dass Independent 15 0.01
B. Bari Independent 15 0.01
R.K. Rahi Independent 15 0.01
C.R.R. Chugh Independent 15 0.01
V. Singh Independent 15 0.01
C. B. L. Saxena Jan Ekta Morcha 15 0.01
H. S. Dhillon Independent 15 0.01
A. Shahani Independent 14 0.01
G. C. Paniala Independent 14 0.01
A. Jain (W) Independent 12 0.01
D. Kumar Independent 12 0.01
Pt. C. P. Sharma Bharatiya Lok Tantrik Mazdoor Dal 12 0.01
K. J. S. Urf D. Pakad Independent 12 0.01
U. Goel Independent 11 0.01
B. Bharti Independent 11 0.01
T. Sial Independent 10 0.01
B. B. Goswami Independent 10 0.01
A. Mehmood Independent 9 0.00
Rattan Independent 9 0.00
S. M. Ahmed Independent 9 0.00
G. K. Khanna Independent 8 0.00
P. Tolani Independent 8 0.00
M. B. Nowhattia Independent 8 0.00
D. Sharma Independent 7 0.00
M. Kumar Independent 7 0.00
H. R. Singh Independent 7 0.00
T. Ahuja Independent 6 0.00
K. D. P. M. Lal Independent 6 0.00
Dr. R. K. Chitkara Independent 6 0.00
P. Kumar Independent 5 0.00
P. K. Gupta Independent 5 0.00
M. N. Gautam Independent 3 0.00

[2]

The election was won by R. Khanna.[2][3] The by-election victory was interpreted as an important victory for the Congress government of P.V. Narasimha Rao.[7]

Khanna failed to be re-elected from New Delhi in 1996.[3] Sinha was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1996, and would later become a Union Minister.[14] In his 2016 autobiography Anything but Khamoosh, Sinha expressed regret over having contested the 1992 by-election against fellow actor Khanna.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Bhaichand Patel (2012). Bollywood's Top 20 Superstars of Indian Cinema. Penguin Books India. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-670-08572-9.
  2. ^ a b c d e Election Commission of India. Bye-election results 1952-95
  3. ^ a b c d Mahendra Singh Rana (2006). India Votes: Lok Sabha & Vidhan Sabha Elections 2001-2005. Sarup & Sons. p. 493. ISBN 978-81-7625-647-6.
  4. ^ a b M. L. Ahuja; Sharda Paul (1992). 1989-1991 General Elections in India: Including November 1991 By-elections. Associated Publishing House. p. 141. ISBN 978-81-7045-085-6.
  5. ^ India: A Reference Annual. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 1992. p. 833.
  6. ^ rediff.com. Vote for Bollywood
  7. ^ a b Quarterly Economic Report of the Indian Institute of Public Opinion. Vol. 35. 1992. p. 14.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i India Today. Vol. 17 (1-12 ed.). Aroon Purie for Living Media India Limited. 1992. p. 50.
  9. ^ a b c NDTV. Shatrughan Sinha's Biggest Regret Involves Co-Star Rajesh Khanna
  10. ^ Meenu Roy (1992). The Battle of the ballot. Classic Pub. House. p. 154. ISBN 978-81-7193-025-8.
  11. ^ Frontline. A fresh polarisation in Delhi
  12. ^ a b Keesing's Record of World Events. Vol. 40. Longman. 1994. p. 39867.
  13. ^ Pakistan & Gulf Economist. Vol. 11 (40-52 ed.). Economist Publications. 1992.
  14. ^ Indian Express. The clout of cinema in India: From iconic star-politicians to parliamentary duds