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1996 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election
Legislative Assembly elections were held in Uttar Pradesh in 1996. The Bharatiya Janata Party remained the largest party, winning 174 of the 425 seats. Result and Government
The elections led to a hung assembly, and a further period of President's rule, before the BJP and the BSP formed an alliance with the BJP, allowing Mayawati to become Chief Minister in March 1997. Kalyan Singh became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second time in September 1997, taking the post over from Mayawati as part of their power-sharing agreement. In February 1998, his government withdrew cases against those accused in the Babri Masjid demolition, stating that a Ram temple would be built at the site if the BJP were to take power in Delhi.The BSP and BJP came into conflict over the policies that the BSP government had implemented targeting Dalit social welfare.On 21 October 1997 the BSP withdrew support for Singh's government. Singh continued in office with the support of a breakaway faction of the BSP, and a breakaway faction of the INC, led by INC MLA Naresh Agrawal, the Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress. Singh's administration ended many of the BSP's Dalit-focused programmes soon after taking office. On 21 February 1998, Singh's government was dismissed by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Romesh Bhandari, after Agrawal withdrew support to Singh's government. Bhandari invited Jagdambika Pal of the INC to form a new government, in which Agrawal became deputy chief minister.Bhandari's order was stayed by a division bench of the Allahabad High Court, which reinstated Singh's administration two days after its dismissal. As a member of the Lodhi community, Singh commanded support among Other Backward Class (OBC) groups, and his affiliation with the BJP had allowed it to expand its support beyond its traditional upper-caste base. However, he began to be seen as a "patron of the backward castes" by upper-caste members of his own party, and to face opposition as a result. Dissension within the party occurred at the same time as an increase in crime that Singh's administration was unable to control, and in May 1999, 36 BJP legislators resigned in protest at the continuation of Singh's administration.The BJP's central administration replaced Singh as Chief Minister with Rajnath Singh. Elected members
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