Question

Arrange the following events in chronological order:

(i) Assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
(ii) Formation of the First Non-Congress coalition government at the centre.
(iii) Sixteenth Lok Sabha elections.
(iv) The Mandal Commission gave its recommendations.

• A. (ii), (iii), (i), (iv)
• B. (i), (iv), (iii), (ii)
• C. (iv), (ii), (i), (iii)
• D. (iii), (i), (ii), (iv)

Hint:

The decade of 1989--1991 was highly volatile in Indian politics. Keep in mind that the Mandal recommendations were submitted in 1980, but they were not implemented until V.P. Singh's National Front government took office in 1990.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Determine the Date/Year for Each Event:
• (iv) Submission of the Mandal Commission Recommendations: December 31, 1980. Under the chairmanship of B.P. Mandal, the commission recommended a $27\%$ reservation in government jobs for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
• (ii) Formation of the First Non-Congress Coalition Government at the Centre: December 1989. The National Front coalition government, led by V.P. Singh, took office with external support from the BJP and Left parties.
• (i) Assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi: May 21, 1991. He was assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber during an election campaign rally in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
• (iii) Sixteenth Lok Sabha Elections: April--May 2014. These elections brought the BJP-led NDA coalition to power with a single-party majority under Narendra Modi.

Step 2: Construct the Chronology:
Arranging these years in ascending order: $1980 \to 1989 \to 1991 \to 2014$. This yields the sequence: (iv), (ii), (i), (iii). This matches option (C).