First Vajpayee ministry

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister of India for first time on 16 May 1996.

First Atal Bihari Vajpayee ministry
15th ministry of the Republic of India
Date formed	16 May 1996
Date dissolved	1 June 1996
People and organisations
Head of state	Shankar Dayal Sharma
Head of government	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Member party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Status in legislature	Minority 187 / 543 (34%)
Opposition party	Indian National Congress
Opposition leader	P. V. Narasimha Rao (lok sabha)
History
Election(s)	1996
Legislature term(s)	16 days
Predecessor	P. V. Narasimha Rao ministry
Successor	H. D. Deve Gowda ministry

This article is part of a series about Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Prime Minister of India Early political career Honours Electoral record Eponym Good Governance Day Electoral history Premiership General elections 1996 1998 1999 2004 Campaign Union Council of Ministers First Second Third Lok Sabha Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth National policy Legislations POTA TADA NHDP Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Treaties and accords Agra summit Lahore Declaration Missions and agencies Pokhran-II Controversies Barak Missile scandal Wars and attacks Kargil War 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video

BJP was well short of majority and looking for allies, but Vajpayee resigned after just 16 days since he could not muster enough support. The ministry was kept small because its fate was uncertain when swearing-in took place.