ABSTRACT
India's ninth general election, held in November, 1989, witnessed a startling decline in voter turnout from the poll conducted in December, 1984. In the tenth general election held in May and June 1991, the decline in electoral participation continued, despite a situation where the public had become overtly politicized over religious issues. The election results most dramatically undermined the position of the Congress Party. The key to Congress success became a divided opposition or what is known as "the splinter factor": The more candidates there are for any given seat, the fewer votes that are required to win that race. Political scientists have found that participation in any political system is dependent upon socioeconomic variables as age, income, and education, as well as intangible factors as the sense of civic duty that comes from the degree of political socialization that a society engenders.
