Uttar Pradesh has seen shades of red and green, saffron, and blue dominate the state’s political spectrum over the last 25 years as India’s ‘grand old party’, the Indian National Congress, lost its space to regional satraps and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Beginning in 1991

As communal and caste cleavages widened, the high points of this phase, since 1991, were the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and that of the Dalits and Backward Classes in the state’s politics. While December 6, 1992 was a watershed moment, no less significant was the emergence of Dalits and OBCs as the new political elite.

Political instability marked the period between 1991 and 2003 in Uttar Pradesh, with ten chief ministers playing musical chairs of sorts and President’s rule being imposed three times.

The period between 1985 and 1989 and 1990-92 were especially tumultuous. Vir Bahadur Singh, who had taken over as the Chief Minister in September 1985, gave in to the request of Vishwa Hindu Parishad to get the gates of Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya unlocked. The move opened the floodgates to a controversy that is yet to be resolved and proved suicidal for the Congress.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad gradually built up a campaign for the Ram temple in Ayodhya and Vir Bahadur Singh’s decision was a shot in the arm for them at a time when the BJP had lost the 1985 elections to the Congress.

From shilanyaas to the temple

After the gates to the structure were opened, the VHP upped its ante and started clamouring for more. In the months that followed, its movement for a Ram temple began to gather steam as the outfit mobilized public opinion and sought the government’s permission to perform shilanyaas at the disputed structure.

In 1988, ND Tiwari replaced Vir Bahadur as Chief Minister and remained in office till December 1989. The year saw a desperate Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister, looking for a straw to latch on to in order to retain power at the Centre. Instead of countering the VHP leaders’ plan to perform shilanyaas, Tiwari played into their hands in the hope of winning Hindu votes. The shilanyaas, described as a landmark event in the Ayodhya movement, was performed at the disputed site on November 9, 1989 with the tacit approval of his government.