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October 2, 1998
ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES
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A state forever in crisis
Anant Gaundalkar
Last month's tumult in Bihar was nothing new. Though the state has had only two chief ministers in the last eight years, that has not ensured peace, stability, or prosperity. The last decade has been marked by political turmoil, tragedies, and law-and-order crises at regular, almost monotonous intervals. Following is the chronology of political events in Bihar in the Nineties:
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Date |
Particulars |
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March 1990 |
Janata Dal's Laloo Prasad Yadav becomes the state's 20th chief minister. |
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March 1995 |
Laloo Yadav continues as caretaker chief minister after March 15 when the five-year term of the assembly ends. Elections are delayed because of a standoff with the Election Commission on voter identity cards. |
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March 1995 |
On March 28, in the midst of assembly elections, President's rule is promulgated in the state, leading to an uproar in both houses of Parliament. |
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April 1995 |
After one week of President's rule, Laloo Prasad Yadav is sworn in once again as chief minister following the Janata Dal's victory in the assembly elections. |
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Jan-Dec 1995 |
It was a year marked by political turmoil, shocking tragedies, and the resounding electoral triumph of the Janata Dal led by the effervescent Laloo Yadav |
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June 1997 |
Governor A R Kidwai gives the Central Bureau of Investigation permission to prosecute Chief Minister Yadav and two of his Cabinet colleagues in connection with the Rs 9,500 million fodder scam. The state appears to be heading for a spell of President's rule with widespread violence. |
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July 1997 |
Laloo Yadav, the man who has by now come to symbolise corruption and degeneration of the political system, resigns. But he shrewdly hands over the baton to his wife Rabri Devi on July 26. |
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July 1997 |
On July 30, the CBI orders the arrest of Laloo Prasad Yadav following the Supreme Court's rejection of his plea for anticipatory bail in the fodder scam. |
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July-Sept 1997 |
Within two months of Rabri Devi Yadav assuming the office of chief minister, the state witnesses as many as 50 killings in different parts. |
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September 1998 |
The Centre tries to impose President's rule in the state, for the seventh occasion in its history. But the President rejects the recommendation amidst high drama. |
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