Disturbed Areas Act; three lakh security personnel

Who: The Union government and its security forces, the Congress under Beant Singh, and the Kharku groups and most Akali leaders who stayed out of the poll.

What: Punjab had been under President's rule since 11 May 1987. A first attempt at an election failed: on 21 June 1991, a day before polling, the Election Commission postponed it, saying a free and fair poll was not possible. UPI counted at least 24 candidates killed in the campaign; The Tribune says 29. By November 1991, The Tribune says, the Disturbed Areas Act was in force and about three lakh (300,000) security personnel had been given wide powers to make sure the next poll went ahead.

Polling for the 117-seat Assembly was held on 19 February 1992. The Tribune says Kharku groups announced a boycott, put up threatening posters and killed people who might vote, and that most Akali leaders stayed out after wavering; one Akali faction fought and won two seats. Turnout was 21.6 per cent by The Tribune's count, against 67.6 per cent in 1985; the Election Commission figures reproduced by Wikipedia give 23.8 per cent. Congress won 87 seats and the BSP, with nine, became the main opposition. Beant Singh became Chief Minister, and President's rule ended on 23 February 1992.

Where: All of Punjab.

Why it mattered: It put a government in office on the votes of barely a fifth to a quarter of the electorate, with about three lakh security personnel in the field. The Tribune's retrospective calls it democracy ushered in despite low turnout, and says the forces ensured that no candidate was killed. The Kharku groups that called the boycott had asked Sikhs to stay away, so the turnout is read two ways: as the return of elected government, and as a refusal by most of the electorate to take part.