16 February, 22 February, and 28 February 1998 1999 → 144 64 1 128 | 254 144 25 1 139,701,871 98,140,471 | |
General elections were held in India in 1998, after the government elected in 1996 collapsed and the 12th Lok Sabha was convened. New elections were called when Indian National Congress (INC) left the United Front government led by I.K. Gujral, after they refused to drop the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party from the government after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi. The outcome of the new elections was also indecisive, with no party or alliance able to create a strong majority. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party's Atal Bihari Vajpayee regained his position of Prime Minister getting support from 286 members out of 545, the government collapsed again in late 1998 when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with its 18 seats, withdrew their support. This led to a vote-of-confidence motion in the parliament, where the government lost by 272-273 (1 vote) and thus leading to new general elections in 1999. It also marked the first time since independence that India's long-time governing party, the INC, failed to win majority two consecutive elections.
Turnout was 61.97%.