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| 1991, May 21 |
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| Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated after the first days of polling while he was campaigning in Tamil Nadu. His assassination was most likely the work of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who suffered as result of India's intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war between Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils (See Nov. 12). | 1 |
| Elections were postponed to mid-June. Congress (I) won 227 of 511 seats, probably some out of sympathy. P. V. Narasimha Rao was chosen as interim party president of Congress (I). | 2 |
| Sikh terrorism continued at high levels in the Punjab area. | 3 |
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| 1992, Feb. 29 |
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| The government introduced a “revolutionary” budget for 1992–93, calling for economic liberalization. Its policies removed the block on sending rupees out of India, encouraged private entrepreneurship and investment from overseas (for multinational corporations as well as diasporic Indians), and removed large areas of the economy from government control. | 4 |
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| Dec. 7 |
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| Under encouragement from the BJP state government in Uttar Pradesh, Hindu activists destroyed the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and began building a new temple. After an embarrassing period of inaction, the central government finally condemned the action and took four BJP state governments under control. | 5 |
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