Indian Express front page, June 22, 1997
Janata legislators in seven states and a union territory elected leaders for their respective assemblies. While Devi Lal in Haryana, Nilamony Rautray in Orissa and Kailash Chandra Joshi were elected unopposed, leaders in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan had to take the secret ballot. Election of the leader in Delhi was also unanimous. In Lucknow, Ram Naresh Yadav was elected the leader of UP Janata legislature party. He defeated Ram Dhan, also an MP. Legislators in Bhopal opted unanimously for Kailash Chandra Joshi in the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly. V.K. Saklecha withdrew from the contest after the MLAs reached a consensus. Joshi was the leader of opposition in the last assembly. Karpoori Thakur, also an MP, was elected the leader of the house in Bihar. He won a three-cornered contest in which state Janata party chief Satyendra Narain Sinha also figured. In Himachal Pradesh, Shantha Kumar was elected the leader of the Janata legislature party in a secret ballot.
Jyoti Basu takes oath
The five-man Left Front ministry, led by Marxist leader Jyoti Basu, assumed office in Calcutta and announced its first major decision by declaring amnesty to all political prisoners, including Naxalites and undertrials. Besides Basu, the others sworn in were renowned economist and former advisor to the Union government Ashok Mitra, Krishna Pada Ghosh (CPM), Jatin Chakravorty (RSP) and Kanhai Lal Bhattacharya from the Forward Bloc. Mitra will be in charge of the finance portfolio and Bhattacharya will focus on commerce and industries portfolio.
Shekhawat is CM
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the newly-elected leader of the Janata legislature party in Rajasthan, will be sworn in as chief minister on June 22. Shekhawat is an MP and convenor of the Rajasthan Janata Party election committee.
