Editing K. R. Narayanan (section)

===Exercise of presidential discretion===
President Narayanan introduced the important practice of explaining to the nation (by means of Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqués) the thinking that led to the various decisions he took while exercising his discretionary powers; this has led to openness and transparency in the functioning of the president.

;Appointment of the prime minister and dissolution of Parliament
[[File:The_President_of_India,_K._R._Narayanan_during_an_interview_with_China_Central_Television.jpg|thumb|The President of India, K. R. Narayanan during an interview with China Central Television]]
[[File:President_Clinton_with_Indian_president_K._R._Narayanan02.jpg|thumb|President Clinton with Indian president K. R. Narayanan]]
During his presidency, Narayanan dissolved the [[Lok Sabha]] twice after determining through consultations across the political spectrum, that no one was in a position to secure the confidence of the house. Congress president [[Sitaram Kesri]] withdrew his party's support of the [[I. K. Gujral]] government and staked his claim to form the government on 28 November 1997. Gujral advised Narayanan of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. President Narayanan determined that no one would be able to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha and accepted Gujral's advice<ref>K. R. Narayanan: {{cite web|url=http://alfa.nic.in/rb/pr003.htm |title=Rashtrapati Bhavan communique concerning the dissolution of the eleventh Lok Sabha |access-date=2017-04-03 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980119180543/http://alfa.nic.in/rb/pr003.htm |archive-date=19 January 1998 }}, 4 December 1997. Archived Jan. 1998.</ref> (4 December). In the ensuing general elections, the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) emerged as the single largest party, leading the largest pre-election coalition, the [[National Democratic Alliance (India)|National Democratic Alliance]] (NDA), and the coalition leader [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee]] staked his claim to form the government, though at that point he did not have a majority. Narayanan asked Vajpayee to furnish letters of support to demonstrate the NDA's ability to secure a majority. Vajpayee was able to meet this demand after support for the NDA grew, and subsequently he was appointed Prime Minister<ref>K. R. Narayanan: {{cite web|url=http://alfa.nic.in/rb/pr032.htm |title=Rashtrapati Bhavan communique concerning the appointment of the Prime minister |access-date=2017-04-03 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990218135627/http://alfa.nic.in/rb/pr032.htm |archive-date=18 February 1999 }}, 15 March 1998. Archived Feb. 1999.</ref> (15 March 1998) on the condition (which was met) that a vote of confidence be secured within 10 days.<ref name=krn_vote />

One of the coalition partners supporting the minority government (the [[All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]] under [[J. Jayalalithaa]]) wrote a letter to the President withdrawing support on 14 April 1999, and Narayanan advised Vajpayee to seek a [[vote of confidence]] in the Lok Sabha. This motion was defeated (17 April). Both Vajpayee and the [[Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)|Leader of the Opposition]], Congress president [[Sonia Gandhi]], then staked claims to form the government. Narayanan asked the NDA and the Congress party to show proof of support since the loss of the confidence vote. When evidence from neither party was forthcoming, Narayanan informed the Prime Minister that fresh elections seemed to be the only way to resolve the crisis in governance. The Lok Sabha was then dissolved at Vajpayee's advice<ref>K. R. Narayanan: {{cite web|url=http://alfa.nic.in/rb/pr119.htm |title=Rashtrapati Bhavan communique concerning the dissolution of the twelfth Lok Sabha |access-date=2017-04-03 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010220235512/http://alfa.nic.in/rb/pr119.htm |archive-date=20 February 2001 }}, 26 April 1999. Archived Feb. 2001.</ref> (26 April). (In the ensuing general elections, the NDA secured a majority and Vajpayee was reappointed Prime Minister<ref>K. R. Narayanan: {{cite web|url=http://alfa.nic.in/rb/pr160.htm |title=Rashtrapati Bhavan communique concerning the appointment of the Prime minister |access-date=2017-04-03 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001012185035/http://alfa.nic.in/rb/pr160.htm |archive-date=12 October 2000 }}, 11 October 1999. Archived Oct. 2000</ref> (11 October 1999) in a straightforward manner.)

In these decisions, President Narayanan set a new precedent concerning the appointment of a prime minister – if no party or pre-election coalition had a majority, then a person would be appointed prime minister only if he was able to convince the president (through letters of support from allied parties) of his ability to secure the confidence of the house. In doing so, he diverged from the actions of his predecessors who had been faced with the task of appointing a prime minister from a [[hung parliament]], Presidents [[Neelam Sanjivareddy|N. Sanjiva Reddy]], [[R. Venkataraman]], and [[Shankar Dayal Sharma]]: the latter two had followed the practice of inviting the leader of the single largest party or pre-election coalition to form the government without investigating their ability to secure the confidence of the house.

;Imposition of President's rule
President Narayanan returned for reconsideration the advices from the Union cabinet to impose [[President's rule]] in a state, in accordance with Article 356, in two instances: one from the Gujral government (22 October 1997) seeking to dismiss the [[Kalyan Singh]] government in [[Uttar Pradesh]],<ref>Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, Praveen Swami: [http://www.flonnet.com/fl1422/14220040.htm "A crisis defused"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216190120/http://www.flonnet.com/fl1422/14220040.htm |date=16 December 2004 }}, ''Frontline'' '''14''' (22), 1–14 November 1997. Retrieved 24 February 2006.</ref> and the other from the Vajpayee government (25 September 1998) seeking to dismiss the [[Rabri Devi]] government in [[Bihar]].<ref>[[Praveen Swami]], Sudha Mahalingam: [http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1521/15210040.htm "The BJP's Bihar fiasco"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106231520/http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1521/15210040.htm |date=6 November 2012 }}, ''Frontline'' '''15''' (21), 10–23 October 1998. Retrieved 24 February 2006.</ref> In both instances, he cited the [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme court]] judgement of 1994 on ''[[S. R. Bommai vs. Union of India]]'' and exercised his discretion by, in the former case, returning the matter for reconsideration of the cabinet, which then decided not to move ahead in the matter.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ramakrishnan |first=Venkitesh |date=2 December 2005 |title=Citizen President |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/obituary/article30207488.ece |access-date=16 April 2024 |work=Frontline}}</ref> However, in the latter case, the cabinet re-advised the same to the president after couple of months, It was then the President's rule was imposed in Bihar in February 1999.

;Kargil conflict
A [[Kargil War|military conflict]] was developed in [[Kargil district|Kargil]] on the [[Line of Control]] (LoC) with [[Pakistan]] in May 1999. The [[Primership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee government]] had lost a no-confidence vote in Lok Sabha earlier that year and the opposition failed to form the next government. The Lok Sabha had been dissolved and a [[caretaker government]] was in office. This caused a problem with democratic accountability, as every major government decision is expected to be discussed, deliberated and consented by the parliament. Narayanan suggested to Vajpayee that the [[Rajya Sabha]] be convened to discuss the conflict, as demanded by several opposition parties (citing the precedent of Nehru convening a parliamentary session on Vajpayee's demand during the Sino-Indian war in 1962 ) though there was no precedent of convening the Rajya Sabha in isolation during an interregnum.<ref>V. Venkatesan: {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060629035018/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1615/16150230.htm "Political echoes"]}}, ''Frontline'' '''16''' (15), 17–30 July 1999. Retrieved 24 February 2006.</ref> Further, Narayanan was briefed by the chiefs of the three arms of the [[Indian Armed Forces]] on the conduct of the conflict. His Republic day address next year<ref name=rep /> began by paying homage to the soldiers who had died defending the nation.