Congress swaps out one Prime Minister it props up for another

H. D. Deve Gowda's United Front coalition had governed since June 1996 with Congress support from outside, a Congress that had itself just lost power and chosen not to join the government directly. On 30 March 1997, Congress President Sitaram Kesri abruptly withdrew that support, without the United Front's other constituents having been given real warning.

Gowda lost the resulting no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on 11 April 1997 by a wide margin. Rather than force fresh elections, the United Front's constituents regrouped around a different leader from the same coalition — Inder Kumar Gujral, until then External Affairs Minister — with Congress again agreeing to support him from outside.

Gujral was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 April 1997. His government lasted less than a year: Congress withdrew support again in November 1997, this time over the Jain Commission's report into the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, and the country went to fresh elections in early 1998.