National Front (India)

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The National Front was a coalition of political parties, led by the Janata Dal, which formed India's government between 1989 and 1991 under the leadership of N. T. Rama Rao. But he did not choose to become prime minister. The coalition's prime minister was V. P. Singh. After the fall of the National Front government, Chandra Shekhar split the principle party of the National Front. Janatadal formed a Government with the backing of Rajiv Gandhi's Congress Party for a short time and was brought down by Gandhi on frivolous charges of spying by Haryana (a state then ruled by Chandrasekhar's party) Police.

The failure of the coalition - which allowed the Indian National Congress to gain power and follow a path of economic liberalization - was put down to corruption scandals between some of the parties involved in the coalition, anti-development and communist policies of the government and implementation of Mandal Commission Reports - a step which led to a vertical split in Hindu society and large scale protests.