New Delhi, July 18, 2022, Monday
On 5 July 1982, Giani Zailsingh became the President. At that time Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country. During the tenure of Giani Zailsingh, highly sensitive incidents such as terrorism in Punjab, Operation Blue Star in Amritsar temple, assassination of Indira Gandhi and anti-Sikh riots in Delhi took place.
When Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguard on 31 October 1984, Zail Singh went on an official visit to Oman. He cut the trip short and came back to swear in Rajiv Gandhi as the Prime Minister. However, Zail Singh had differences with Rajiv Gandhi in the last period of his tenure. Gianni Zailsingh’s tenure is considered one of the toughest and most controversial of Indian presidents, but R Venkataram, who succeeded Zailsingh as president, also faced a streak of political instability.
R Venkataraman’s five-year tenure from 25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992 saw 4 Prime Ministers change. Out of them, he administered the oath to 3 Prime Ministers Venkataram. Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country with a majority of over 400 Lok Sabha seats when Venkataraman assumed the presidency. This was the golden age of Congress in terms of votes and seats but Rajiv Gandhi could not maintain it.
VP Singh formed the Janata Dal party. VP Singh of the Janata Dal party became the Prime Minister with the support of the BJP when the Congress government under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi left in the general elections held in the country in 1989. Aganjwalas of VP Singh’s Mandal Commission spread across the country. After much controversy, VP Singh resigned and Chandrashekhar of the Samajwadi Party became the Prime Minister with the support of the Congress.
An atmosphere of political maneuvering and instability began. Finally PM Chandrasekhar had to resign as the Congress withdrew its support. After that, general elections were again held in the country in which PV Narasimha Rao of the Congress became the Prime Minister on July 21, 1992 with a very thin majority, R Venkataraman’s term was five days away. Thus R Venkataram saw four Prime Ministers namely Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh, Chandrashekhar and PV Narasimha Rao during his tenure as President.