an outbreak of violence at the count venue could have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, by the heavily armed police present there, due to an escalation of the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian general elections, 1989 & 1991 With his court battle still ensuing against the Election Commission over the rigging of the previous election, Bhim Singh contested again for the Panthers Party, from Udhampur in the 1989 Indian general elections. He polled fourth, with 22,625 votes (7.23%). In the 1991 Indian general elections, Panthers Party contested two seats from National Capital Territory of Delhi, in protest to the 1991 Hawala scandal, that broke out after an arrest of Kashmiri militants revealed evidence of money corruption by senior Indian politicians, including leader of the opposition, L. K. Advani. Bhim Singh contested against BJP leader, L. K. Advani in New Delhi. He came sixth out of 63 candidates, with 396 votes (0.18%). Ishwar Chand contested for the Panthers Party from South Delhi, against the BJP's Madan Lal Khurana. Chand came 26th out of 74 candidates with 191 votes (0.05%). Indian general elections, 1996 The Panthers Party in the 1996 Indian general election contested five out of the six parliamentary seats in Jammu and Kashmir. The Panthers Party candidates were Dil Jeet Singh in Baramulla, Mohammad Akbar in Srinagar, Mohamad Yousf Ganai in Anantnag, Navin Baksi in Jammu, and Bhim Singh in Udhampur. Collectively the Panthers Party received a total of 99,599 votes (5.05%) across the seats contested. J&K general elections, 1996 Panthers Party defeated the Election Commission in the Supreme Court of India, forcing it to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by order of chief justice J. S. Verma. Democratic elections had not been held for nine years, with the state placed under the Indian President's rule, due to a break down in law and order resultant from the terrorist insurgency. Panthers Party contested 45 out of 87 seats in the 1996 J&K general election. It received a total of 55,885 votes (4.33%) across the seats it contested. Harsh Dev Singh won from Ramnagar with 9,049 votes (24.56%). Indian general elections, 1998 & 1999 Panthers Party in the 1998 Indian general elections contested eight seats in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. The party received a total of 24,638 votes (0.59%) across the seats they contested. In the 1999 Indian general elections held