11.
PARLIAMENTARY AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
(1 OCTOBER TO 31 DECEMBER 1999)
Events covered in this Feature are based primarily on reports appearing in the daily newspapers and as such the Lok Sabha Secretariat does not accept any responsibility for their accuracy, authenticity or veracity.
—Editor
INDIA
DEVELOPMENTS AT THE UNION
General Elections held*: The General Elections for Thirteenth Lok Sabha were held
on 5, 11, 18 and 25 September 1999 and also on 3 and 28 October 1999.
Election results: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) obtained a clear majority in the Thirteenth General
Elections. The BJP emerged as the single largest party, followed by the Indian
National Congress.
On 19 October 1999, the Speaker
accepted the resignation of Smt. Sonia
Gandhi of her seat from Bellary parliamentary constituency and Shri Mulayam
Singh Yadav of his seat from Kannauj parliamentary constituency.
On 28 October 1999, elections
were held in six parliamentary constituencies which were not held earlier along
with the rest of the constituencies. The results of these constituencies are as
under: Bhagalpur: Shri Subodh Roy (CPI-M); Purnea: Shri Rajesh Ranjan alias
Pappu Yadav (Independent); Rajmahal (ST): Shri Thomas Hansda (Congress-I);
Khagaria: Smt. Renu Devi (JD-U); Dhubri: Shri Abdul Hamid (Congress-I); and
Outer Manipur (ST): Shri Holkhomang Haokip (Nationalist Congress Party).
On 16 November 1999, the
President, Shri K.R. Narayanan nominated Shri D.B. Atkinson and Smt. Beatrix
D’Souza to the Thirteenth Lok Sabha to represent the Anglo-Indian Community.
(For the latest party position in the Lok Sabha, see Annexure VII.)
Constitution of the Thirteenth
Lok Sabha: On 10 October 1999, the
Thirteenth Lok Sabha was constituted with the Election Commission issuing a
notification under Section 73 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
New Prime Minister: On 11 October 1999, the President, Shri K.R. Narayanan
invited the Leader of the single largest party in the Lok Sabha, Shri Atal
Bihari Vajpayee of the BJP, to form the Government. A 70-member Council of
Ministers headed by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in on 13 October 1999.
The Council of Ministers and
their portfolios are as under: Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee: (Prime Minister):
Prime Minister and also in charge of the Ministries/Departments not
specifically allocated to the charge of any Minister.
Cabinet Ministers: Shri L.K. Advani: Home; Shri Ananth Kumar: Culture, Youth
Affairs and Sports; Shri T.R. Baalu: Environment and Forests; Ms.
Mamata Banerjee: Railways; Shri George Fernandes: Defence; Shri
Jagmohan: Urban Development; Shri Satya Narayan Jatiya: Urban Employment and
Poverty Alleviation; Shri Ram Jethmalani: Law, Justice and Company
Affairs; Shri Manohar Joshi: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; Dr.
Murli Manohar Joshi: Human Resource Development and Science and Technology; Shri
R. Kumaramangalam: Power; Shri Pramod Mahajan: Parliamentary Affairs and Water
Resources; Shri Murasoli Maran: Commerce and Industry; Shri Ram Naik: Petroleum
and Natural Gas; Shri Nitish Kumar: Surface Transport; Shri Jual
Oram: Tribal Affairs; Shri Ram Vilas Paswan: Communications; Shri Naveen
Patnaik: Mines and Minerals; Shri Sunder Lal Patwa: Rural
Develop-ment; Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu: Chemicals and Fertilizers; Shri
Kashiram Rana: Textiles; Shri Shanta Kumar: Consumer Affairs and
Public Distribution; Shri Jaswant Singh: External Affairs; Shri
Yashwant Sinha: Finance; and Shri Sharad Yadav: Civil Aviation.
Ministers of State (Independent
Charge): Ms. Maneka Gandhi: Social Justice and Empowerment; Shri
Arun Jaitley: Information and Broad-casting; Shri M. Kannappan: Non-conventional
Energy Sources; Shri Dilip Ray: Steel, in addition will assist Minister
of Parliamentary Affairs; Smt. Vasundhara Raje: Small Scale Industries,
Agro and Rural Industries; in addition will be Minister of State
assisting the Prime Minister in the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances
and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space; Shri N.T.
Shanmugam: Health and Family Welfare; and Ms. Uma Bharti: Tourism.
Ministers of State: Shri Ramesh Bais: Chemicals and Fertilizers; Ms.
Bijoya Chakravarty: Water Resources; Shri Shriram Chauhan: Parliamentary
Affairs; Shri Bandaru Dattatraya: Urban Development; Shri Santosh Gangwar: Science and
Technology, in addition will assist Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Shri
Jaysingrao Gaikwad Patil: Human Resource Development; Prof. Chaman Lal
Gupta: Civil Aviation; Shri Syed Shahnawaz Hussain: Food Processing;
Dr. Vallabh Bhai Ramjibhai Kathiria: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises;
Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste: Parliamentary Affairs; Shri V. Dhananjaya Kumar: Finance;
Shri Bangaru Laxman: Planning and Programme Implementation; Ms. Sumitra
Mahajan: Human Resource Development; Shri Subhash Maharia: Rural
Development; Shri Babu Lal Marandi: Environment and Forests; Ms.
Jayawanti Mehta: Power; Shri Muni Lall: Labour and Employment;
Shri Omar Abdullah: Commerce and Industry; Shri Ajit Kumar Panja: External
Affairs; Shri Harin Pathak: Defence; Dr. Debendra Pradhan: Surface
Transport; Shri E. Ponnuswamy: Petroleum; Shri A. Raja: Rural
Deve-lopment; Shri O. Rajagopal: Law, Justice and Company Affairs; Dr. Raman:
Commerce and Industry; Shri Gingee N. Ramachandran: Textiles;
Shri Chennamaneni Vidya Sagar Rao: Home; Shri S.B.P.B.K. Satyanarayana
Rao: Agriculture; Shri Bachi Singh Rawat: Defence; Shri Tapan
Sikdar: Communications; Shri Digvijay Singh: Railways; Shri Th. Chaoba Singh: Culture
Youth Affairs & Sports; Shri V. Sreenivasa Prasad: Consumer Affairs
and Public Distribution; Shri I.D. Swami: Home; Dr. (Smt.) Rita
Verma: Mines and Minerals; Shri EV alias Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil: Finance;
and Shri Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav: Agriculture.
On 22 November 1999, the Prime
Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee expanded the Union Cabinet. The new
Ministers and their portfolios are:
Cabinet Ministers: Shri Rajnath Singh: Surface Transport; Shri C.P.
Thakur: Water Resources; and Shri Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa: Works and
Estates.
Minister of State: Shri Arun
Shourie: Planning, Statistics and Programme Implementation and Department of
Administrative Reforms.
On 26 November 1999, a minor
reshuffle of portfolios took place in the Union Cabinet. Shri Jagmohan was
assigned the Ministry of Urban Development and Shri Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, the
Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation.
On 10 December 1999, the
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Shri Arun Jaitley was given
the independent charge of the newly-created Department of Disinvestment.
Leader of the Opposition: The Leader of Indian National Congress in the Lok Sabha, Smt.
Sonia Gandhi was recognised as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
with effect from 13 October 1999.
Speaker pro tem: On 15 October 1999, the President of India, Shri K.R.
Narayanan appointed Shri Indrajit Gupta as Speaker pro tem in exercise of the
powers conferred upon him by clause (1) of article 95 of the Constitution of
India. He performed the duties of the Speaker and presided over the sittings of
the Lok Sabha on 20 and 21 October 1999 and till the new Speaker was elected on
22 October 1999.
First Session of the Thirteenth
Lok Sabha: The First Session of the
Thirteenth Lok Sabha which commenced on 20 October 1999 was adjourned sine die
on 29 October 1999 and it was prorogued by the President on 1 November 1999.
Election of Speaker and Deputy
Speaker**: On 22 October 1999, Shri
G.M.C. Balayogi of the TDP was unanimously re-elected as the Speaker of the
Thirteenth Lok Sabha. On 27 October 1999, Shri P.M. Sayeed of the Congress (I)
was unanimously chosen as the Deputy Speaker.
Panel of Chairmen: Under rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of
Business in Lok Sabha, the Speaker pro tem Shri Indrajit Gupta nominated Shri
P.M. Sayeed, Shri Somnath Chatterjee and Shri Madhavrao Scindia on the Panel of
Chairmen on 20 October 1999.
Death of member: On 3 October 1999, Shri R.K. Kumar, a member of the Rajya
Sabha belonging to the AIADMK passed away.
Nominations to the Rajya Sabha:
On 22 November 1999, the President, Shri
K.R. Narayanan nominated Sarvashri F. Nariman, Cho Ramaswamy, Nanaji Deshmukh
and Kumari Lata Mangeshkar to the Rajya Sabha.
Cabinet Rank status: On 25 November 1999, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was appointed as
Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government and was given the rank of a
Cabinet Minister.
On 30 November 1999, the
Deputy-Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Dr.(Smt.) Najma Heptulla was given the status of
a Cabinet Minister on being elected as the Chairperson of the Inter-Parliamentary
Union.
ANDHRA PRADESH
Election to the Sate
Legislative Assembly: Elections to the Andhra
Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held on 5 September 1999. The party position
following the elections is as under : Total seats: 295; TDP: 178; BJP: 12;
Congress: 91; MIM-4; CPI (M): 2; Independents: 5; Nominated-1; and Vacant
seats: 2.
On 11 October 1999, Shri N.
Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP was sworn in as the Chief Minister. The Ministers
are : Sarvashri P. Ashok Gajapati Raju, T. Devender Goud, A. Madhav Reddy, B.Y.
Mohan Reddy, Y. Ramakrishnudu, Vadde Shobhanadreeswara Rao, K. Vijayarama Rao
and S. Saraswati.
Election of Speaker: On 10 November 1999, Smt. Kavari Pratibha Bharati was
unanimously elected the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly.
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Elections to the State
Legislative Assembly: Elections to the
Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held on 3 October 1999. The party
position following the elections is as under: Total seats: 60; Congress(I): 50;
NCP:4; and Independents : 6.
On 11 October 1999, Shri Mukut
Mithi was sworn in as the Chief Minister. The Ministers and their portfolios
are:
Shri Mukut Mithi (Chief
Minister): Finance, Planning, Programme Implementation, Economics and Statistics
and Parliamentary Affairs; Shri Thupten Tempa: Public Works; Shri Kameng
Dolo: Home; Shri Dera Natung: Education; Shri Japu Deru: Horticulture;
Shri Tsering Gyurme: Industries, Textiles and Handicrafts; Shri
Nabamtuki: Environment and Forests; Shri Hari Natung: Irrigation and
Flood Control; Shri T.C. Teli: Revenue, Excise and Urban Development;
Shri Takam Sanjoy: Land Management and Information, Public Relations and
Printing; Shri Kahfa Bengia: Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development; Shri
Talo Mugli: Rural Development and Panchayati Raj; Shri Tadak Dobum: Social
Welfare, Women and Child Development; Shri Lijum Ronya: Power and
Non-conventional Energy Resources; Shri Kento Ete: Personnel,
Administrative Reforms, Administration and Training; Shri Kabanmg Dorang:
Cooperation; Shri Tako Dabi: Agriculture; Shri Lombo Tayeng: Cultural
Affairs and Tourism; Shri Chowna Mein: Public Health and Water Supply;
and Shri C.B. Namchoom: Transport and Civil Aviation.
ASSAM
Minister dropped: On 8 November 1999, the Chief Minister, Shri Prafulla Kumar
Mahanta dropped the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Shri Digen Chandra
Bora from the State Cabinet.
Arunachal Governor given
additional charge Assam: On 4 December 1999, the
Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Shri Arvind Dave was given the additional charge
as the Governor of Assam.
BIHAR
UP Governor given additional
charge of Bihar: On 3 October 1999, the
Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Suraj Bhan was given additional charge as the
Governor of Bihar.
Minister dismissed: On 16 November 1999, the Governor, Shri Suraj Bhan dismissed
the Weights and Measures Minister, Shri Rakesh Kumar from the Office on the
ground that he had not attained the constitutionally prescribed minimum age to
hold a ministerial position.
RJD MLA expelled: On 19 November 1999, the RJD expelled Shri Maheshwar Prasad
Yadav, MLA, from the Party for indulging in anti-party activities. On 7
December 1999, Shri Maheshwar Prasad Yadav joined the JD(U).
GOA
Political developments : On 5 November 1999, one of the two NCP MLAs, Shri Francis
D’Souza joined the Congress (I).
On 19 November 1999, eleven out
of the twenty-six Congress(I) MLAs, including four Ministers and the Deputy
Speaker quit the party and staked claim to form a coalition Government with the
support of the MGP and NCP MLAs.
On 20 November 1999, the
Governor, Lt. Gen.(Retd.) J.F.R. Jacob asked the Chief Minister, Shri Luizinho
Faleiro to prove his majority on the floor of the House on 24 November 1999.
Meanwhile, the BJP decided to support the eleven-member break away group led
by Shri Francisco Sardinha.
On 21 November 1999, the Chief
Minister, Shri Luizinho Faleiro resigned before the Vote of Confidence.
Thereafter, Shri Francisco Sardinha was sworn in as the Chief Minister and was
asked to prove his majority on the floor of the House within 21 days.
The new Ministers and their
portfolios are:
Shri Francisco Sardinha:
(Chief Minister): Home, Finance, Housing, General Administration and
Personnel; Shri Dayanand G. Narvekar: (Deputy Chief Minister): Irrigation,
Town and Country Planning and Forests; Shri Subhash Shirodkar: Public
Works Department and Mining; Shri Somnath Zuwarkar: Transport and
Co-operation; Shri Mauvin Godinho: Revenue; Shri Alexio Sequeira: Industries
and Information Technology; Shri Digambar Kamat: Power and Protocol;
Shri Arecio D’Souza: Agriculture and
Provedoria; Shri Francisco D’Souza: Law and Judiciary, Labour and
Employment; Shri Venktesh Dessai: Panchayati Raj and Rural Development
Agency; Shri Francisco Silveira: Food and Civil Supplies and Sports and
Youth Affairs; Shri Prakash Phadte: Education and Science and
Technology; Dr. Sudesh Amonkar: Health and Social Welfare; and Smt.
Victoria Fernandes: Tourism and Animal Husbandry.
Vote of Confidence: On 30 November 1999, the Chief Minister, Shri Francisco
Sardinha won a Vote of Confidence in the State Legislative Assembly.
Election of Deputy Speaker: On 30 December 1999, Shri Ulhas Azgaonkar of the BJP was
elected unopposed as the Deputy Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly.
HARYANA
Support to INLD: On 31 October 1999, four members of the Legislative Assembly belonging to the
Haryana Vikas Party extended unconditional support to Shri Om Prakash
Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal.
Expansion of Cabinet: On 6 November 1999, the Chief Minister, Shri Om Prakash Chautala expanded the State
Cabinet. The new Ministers are: Sarvashri Jagdish Yadav, Ram Swaroop Rana,
Subhash Yadav, Jaswant Singh Narnaud, Vinod Maurya, Azad Mohammed, Jagdish
Nayar, Ram Bhaj and Smt. Kanta Devi.
The Chief Minister also dropped
the Industry Minister, Shri Brij Mohan Singhla and the Transport Minister, Shri
Narbir Singh from the State Cabinet on 6 November 1999.
Dissolution of Assembly: On 14 December 1999, Governor dissolved the State Legislative
Assembly on the recommendation of the Chief Minister, Shri Om Prakash Chautala.
HIMACHAL PRADESH
New Governor: On 2 December 1999, Shri Vishnu Kant Shastri was sworn in as
the new Governor.
JAMMU AND KASHMIR
Resignation of Minister from
the Assembly: On 21 October 1999, the
Revenue Minister, Shri Ali Mohammed Naik resigned from the Tral Assembly
constituency after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Anantnag
constituency.
Ministers dropped: On 13
December 1999, the Chief Minister, Shri
Farooq Abdullah dropped seven Ministers from the State Cabinet.
KARNATAKA
Elections to the State
Legislative Assembly: Elections to the State
Legislative Assembly were held on 5 September 1999. The Party position following
the elections is as under: Total Seats: 224; Congress(I): 132; BJP: 44; JD(U):
19; JD(S): 10; AIADMK:1; Independents-19.
On 11 October 1999, Shri S.M.
Krishna of the Congress(I) was sworn in as the Chief Minister. The new
Ministers and their portfolios are:
Shri S.M. Krishna: (Chief
Minister) : Finance, Banglore Development Authority, Power, Department of Personnel and
Administrative Reforms, Science and Technology.
Cabinet Ministers : Shri Mallikarjuna Kharge: Home; Shri Dharam Singh:
Public Works Department; Shri Kagodu Thimmappa: Social Welfare; Shri
H.K. Patil: Major and Medium Irrigation; Shri K.H. Ranganath: Forests
and Environment; Shri D.B. Chandre Gowda: Law and Parliamentary Affairs;
Shri H. Viswanath: Primary and Secondary Education;
Shri Kashappanavar: Small Industries; Shri A. Krishanppa: Animal
Husbandry; Shri Kamarulla Islam: Housing; Shri A.M. Hindasageri: Labour;
Shri B.B. Chimmanakatti: Urban Development; Shri T.B. Jayachandra: Agriculture;
Shri R.V. Deshapande: Major Industries; Shri V. Muniyappa; Mines
Geology; Shri M. Mahadevu: Sericulture; Shri B. Ramanath Rai: Ports
and Harbour; Shri R. Roshan Baig: Tourism; Shri H.C. Srikantaiah: Revenue;
Shri D.K. Shivakumar: Co-operation; Shri S.R. Sagir Ahamad: Transport;
Shri M.Y. Ghorpade: Rural Development; Dr. A.B. Malakareddy: Health
and Family Welfare; and Smt. Motamma: Women and Child Welfare.
Ministers of State (Independent
Charge) : Shri Kumar Bangarappa: Minor
Irrigation; Shri D.B. Inamdar: Food and Civil Supplies; Shri
R.B. Thimmapura: Agriculture Marketing; Shri Baburao Chinchanasur: Endowment;
Shri Mallikarjun S.S.: Youth and Sports; Shri M.
Shivanna: Kannada and Culture; Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar: Information;
Dr. G. Parameshwar: Higher Education; and Smt. Suma Vasanth:
Planning.
Ministers of State: Shri Allam Veerabhadrappa: Horticulture; Shri T.
Jhon: Infrastructure ; Shri Divakar Babu: Rural Development; Shri
Baburao Chouhan: Social Welfare; Shri M. Mallikarjuna: Urban
Development;
Shri M. M. Nanaiah: Excise; Shri Veera Kumar Patil: Power; Smt.
Nafisa Fazal: Medical Education; and Smt. Rani Satish: Prisons &
Home
Guards.
Election of Speaker: On 26 October 1999, Shri M.V. Venkatappa of the Congress(I)
was unanimously elected the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly.
MADHYA PRADESH
Split in Party: On 27 October 1999, the Bahujan Samaj Party split with four
of the eleven MLAs forming the Pragatisheel Bahujan Samaj Party (PBSP). They
are: Sarvashri Edalsingh Kansana, Bundilal Jatar, Lakhan Singh Yadav and Balbir
Kushwaha.
Death of Minister: On 16 December 1999, the Transport Minister, Shri Likhiram
Kawre was assassinated by Naxalites.
MAHARASHTRA
Elections to the State
Legislative Assembly: Elections to the State
Legislative Assembly were held on 5 September 1999. The party position
following the elections is as under: Total seats: 288; Shiv Sena: 66; BJP: 58;
Congress: 77; NCP: 57; and Others: 30 (including 12 Independents).
On 18 October 1999, Shri
Vilasrao Deshmukh of the Congress(I) was sworn in as the Chief Minister. Shri
Chhaggan Bhujbal of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was sworn in as the
Deputy Chief Minister the same day. The new Ministers are:
Cabinet Ministers: Sarvashri Surup Singh Naik, Patangrao Kadam, Hussain Dalwai,
Ashok Chavan, Jayant Awale, Shivajirao Moghe, Padam Sinh Patil, Vijay Sinh
Mohite –Patil, Madhukar Pichad, Ajit Pawar, Vikramsinh Patankan, Ganpatrao
Deshmuk, Rohidas Patil, Vasant Chavan, Ranjit Deshmukh, Vilasrao Patil,
Digvijay Khanvilkar, R.R. Patil, Ramkrishna More, Dilip Valse Patil, Satish
Chaturvedi, Anandrao Deokate, Jayant Patil, Makhram Pawar and Shri Datta Meghe.
Ministers of State: Sarvashri A.T. Pawar, Manikrao Thakre, Laxman Dhoble, Prakash
Kallappa Awade, Jaydutta Kshirsagar, Eknath Gaikwad, Anil Deshmukh, Balasaheb
alias Vijay Thorat, Babasaheb Kupekar, Basawaraj Patil, Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar,
Anees Ahmed, Subhas Thakre, Bandubhau Savarbandhe, Mohammed Arif Khan, Madhukar
Chavan, Gangadhar Gade, Ajit Ghorpade, Harshvardhan Patil, Rajesh Tope,
Kripashankar Sinh, Rajendra Darda, Chandra Kant Shivawarkar, Vimal Mundada,
Hemant Deshmukh, Sunil Tatkare, M.P. Hirani, Rajendra Shingne, Nawab Malik, M.
Patil, Mohan Patil, Dada Jadhavrao, Smt. Sulekha Khumbare and Smt. Vasudha
Deshmukh.
On 31 October 1999, the Chief Minister,
Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh dropped six Ministers from the State Cabinet. They are :
Sarvashri Satish Chaturvedi, Bandubhau Savarbandhe, Harshavardhan Patil, Rajesh
Tope, Rajendra Shingne and Madhukar Chavan.
Election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker: On 22 October 1999,
Shri Arun Gujarati, a Congress-NCP Combine candidate was elected as the
Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly. Shri Pramod Shende of the Congress
(I) was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly on 23
December 1999,.Vote of Confidence: On 23 October 1999, the Chief
Minister,
Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh won a Vote of Confidence
MEGHALAYA
Political developments: On 12 October 1999, the ruling United Demo-cratic Party severed
its alliance with the Congress (I) and decided to ally with the Nationalist
Congress Party.
On 13 October 1999, the Chief
Minister, Shri B.B. Lyngdoh constituted a 29-member Ministry. After severing
alliance with the Congress, the UDP which had twenty MLAs aligned with NCP’s
twelve members, BJP’s three and People’s Democratic Front’s one member, taking
the total strength to thirty-six.
ORISSA
New Governor: On 15 November 1999, Shri M.M. Rajendran was appointed as
the new Governor of Orissa.
Resignation of Chief Minister: On 5 December 1999, the Chief Minister, Shri Giridhar Gamang
submitted the resignation to the Governor,
Shri M.M Rajendran.
On 6 December 1999, Shri
Hemananda Biswal was sworn in as the new Chief Minister.
PONDICHERRY
Political developments: On
30 December 1999, the DMK-led
Janakiraman Ministry faced a crisis with the TMC pulling out the
Local Administration Minister, Shri Theni C. Jayakumar from the State Cabinet.
PUNJAB
New Governor: On 27 November 1999, Lt. Gen.(Retd.) J.F.R. Jacob was sworn
in as the new Governor of Punjab.
Expansion of Cabinet: On 31 December 1999, the Chief Minister, Shri Prakash Singh
Badal expanded the Cabinet by inducting 15 new Ministers. The Ministers are:
Cabinet Ministers: Sarvashri Adesh Pratap Singh, Shri Baldev Raj Chawla, Natho
Singh Dalam, S.K. Sandhu and J.S. Garcha.
Ministers of State: Sarvashri Sujan Singh, Tara Singh, Ranjit Singh Ballian,
Govind Singh Longowal, Ajaib Singh Mukhmail, Tikshan Sud, Balbir Singh Chaudhary,
Gulzar Singh Ramke, Sohan Singh Thandal and Smt. Mohinder Kaur.
SIKKIM
Elections to the State
Legislative Assembly: Elections to the Sikkim
Legislative Assembly were held on 3 October 1999. The following is the Party
position: Total seats: 32; Sikkim Democratic Front: 24; Sikkim Sangaram
Parishad:7; and Independent: 1.
On 11 October 1999, Shri Pawan
Kumar Chamling of the Sikkim Democratic Front was sworn in as the Chief
Minister. The new Ministers and their portfolios are:
Shri Pawan Kumar Chamling (Chief
Minister): Home, Finance and Rural Development; Shri Dorjee Dazom
Bhutia: Health, Family Welfare, Information and Public Relations, Science
and Technology and Printing; Shri Garjaman Gurung: Agriculture; Shri
Hishey Lachungpa: Power and Labour; Shri Tshering Bhutia:
Urban Development and Public Health Engineering; Shri Karna Bahadur
Chamling: Food and Civil Supplies; Shri Ram Bahadur Subba: Building
and Public Works; Shri Prem Singh Tamang: Animal Husbandry and
Industries: Shri Dorjee Tshering Lepcha: Forests, Mines and Geology; Shri
K.T.N. Gyaltsen Subba: Land and Revenue and Tourism; and Shri Ram
Bahadur Subba: Education and Law.
Election of Speaker: On 15 October 1999, Smt. Kalawati Subba was elected
unanimously as the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly. She is the first
woman member to hold the office of the Speaker of the State Legislative
Assembly.
TAMIL NADU
Death of MLA: Shri A. Mani, MLA, belonging to the DMK, passed away on 12
November 1999.
TRIPURA
Expansion of Cabinet: On 14 November 1999, the Chief Minister expanded the Cabinet
by inducting Shri Balaram Reang as a Minister.
UTTAR PRADESH
Political developments: On 9 November 1999, the BJP asked the Chief Minister, Shri
Kalyan Singh to resign. On 12 November 1999, Shri Ram Prakash Gupta was sworn
in as the new Chief Minister.
On 17 November 1999, the Chief
Minister inducted 41 Ministers into the Cabinet.
On 9 December 1999, the former
Chief Minister, Shri Kalyan Singh was expelled from the party for six years for
indulging in anti-party activities.
Split in Samata Party: On 24 December 1999, the Samata Party split with former
Minister, Shri Raghubar Dayal Verma announcing the formation of a new party
Samata Party (R).
WEST BENGAL
New Governor: On 4 December 1999, Shri Viren Shah was sworn in as the new
Governor.
New Power Minister: On 7 October 1999, the Minister for Public Undertakings and
Industrial Reconstruction, Shri Mrinal Banerjee took over the charge of the
Power Department following the resignation tendered by the Power Minister, Shri
Shankar Sen.
DEVELOPMENTS ABROAD
ALGERIA
New Prime Minister: On 24
December 1999, the President, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika appointed Mr. Ahmed
Benbitour as the new Prime Minister.
ARGENTINA
New President: On 25 October 1999, Mr. Fernando de la Rua was elected as the
new President.
ARMENIA
Prime Minster killed: On 27
October 1999, the Prime Minister, Mr.
Vozgen Sarkisian was shot dead in the Parliament building.
CROATIA
Death of President: On 11 December 1999, the President, Mr. Franjo Tudjman passed
away.
INDONESIA
Election of President and Vice-President: On 20 October 1999,
Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid was elected as the new President.
On 21 October 1999, Ms.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was elected as the Vice-President.
ITALY
Resignation of Prime Minister: On 9 December 1999, the Prime Minister, Mr. Massino D’alema
resigned from Office.
Vote of Confidence: On 23 December 1999, the Prime Minister,
Mr. Massino D’alema’s new Centre-left Government won a Vote of Confidence in
the Senate.
IVORY COAST
Military ruler takes charge: On 29 December 1999, General Robert Guei took the charge of
the Government ousting the President Henri Kanan Bedie.
JAPAN
New Cabinet: On 5 October 1999, the Prime Minister, Mr. Keizo Obuchi replaced
16 of the 18 Ministers and named a three-party coalition Government. The
Finance Minister, Mr. Kiichi Miyazawa and the Planning Minister, Mr. Taichi
Sakaikya were retained. Mr. Yohei Kono was appointed as the new Foreign
Minister replacing Mr. Masahiko Komura.
KAZAKHSTAN
Resignation of Prime Minister: On 1 October 1999, the Prime Minister, Mr. Nurlan Balgimbayev
resigned from Office. The Foreign Minister, Mr. Tokoyev was named as his
successor.
MALAYSIA
Election results: The Prime Minister, Mr. Mahatir Mohammad’s 14-party Barisan
National Coalition won 148 seats in the elections to the 193-member Parliament
held on 29 November 1999.
NAMIBIA
President re-elected: On 7 December 1999, Mr. Sam Nujoma was re-elected for a third
term as the President.
NEPAL
By-election results: On 12 December 1999, the Prime Minister,
Shri Krishna Prasad Bhattarai’s Nepal Congress Party won all the three seats to
which by-elections were held.
NEW ZEALAND
Political developments: On 27 November 1999, the Prime Minister, Ms. Jenny Shipley
conceded defeat of her Centre-Right minority Government to Labour Party’s
leader, Ms. Helen Clark after the General Elections.
On 28 November 1999, Ms. Helen
Clark was elected as the new Prime Minister.
On 10 December 1999, the Prime
Minister, Ms. Helen Clark’s Centre-Left Government was sworn in. The coalition
won 59 of the 120 seats for which parliamentary elections were held on 27
November 1999.
PAKISTAN
Political developments:
On 12 October 1999, the Prime Minister,
Mr. Nawaz Sharif was dismissed by the Army Chief, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
On 13 October 1999, the Army
Chief also dismissed the provincial Governments in all the four Provinces.
On 15 October 1999, Gen. Pervez
Musharraf assumed power as the Chief Executive of the country through an order.
Emergency was declared in the country and the Federal and Provincial
Governments ceased to exist while the Senate, National Assembly and Provincial
Assemblies was suspended.
On 21 October 1999, Gen.
Musharraf appointed Governors for all the four Provinces. They were: Lt. Gen
(Retd.) Mohammad Safdar: Punjab; Air Marshal (Retd.) Azim Duudpota: Sindh;
Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Mohammad Shafiq: North-West Frontier (NWF) Province;
and Justice (Retd.) Amir-ul-Mulk Mengal: Balochistan.
RUSSIA
Resignation of President:
On 31 December 1999, the President, Mr.
Boris Yeltsin resigned from Office and named the Prime Minister, Mr. Vladimir Putin as the acting President.
SRI LANKA
MP killed: On 2 November 1999, Mr. Ramesh Nadarajah, MP was shot dead.
President re-elected: On 22 Decemberr 1999, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga was
re-elected as the President.
TANZANIA
Julius Nyerere dead: Former President, Mr. Julius Nyerere passed away on 14
October 1999.
UK
New Ministers: On 12 October 1999, Mr. Peter Mandelson was appointed as the
new Secretary for Northern Ireland and Mr. Keith Vaz was made Minister in
Foreign Office in charge of Europe.
UKRAINE
President re-elected: On 15 November 1999, Mr. Leonid Kuchmas was re-elected as the
new President.
USA
Death of Senator: On 26 October 1999, the Republican Senator, Mr. John Chafee passed away.
* For details related to the General Elections, formation of Government and Constitution of the Thirteenth Lok Sabha, see Short Note, “The Thirteenth Lok Sabha: Another Commitment to Democratic Values”, The Journal of Parliamentary Information, Vols. XLV, No. 3, September 1999, pp. 285-90.
** For details of the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, see Short Note “Election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Thirteenth Lok Sabha”, The Journal of Parliamentary Information, Vols. XLV, No. 3, September 1999, pp.291 & 299