The United Front was a coalition government of 13 political parties formed in India after the 1996 general elections. It formed two governments in India between 1996 and 1998. During its tenure, the government was led by two prime ministers belonging to the Janata Dal – H. D. Deve Gowda and I. K. Gujral. N. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party served as the convener of United Front. The United Front was headquartered at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi.

General elections were held in India on 27 April, 2 May and 7 May 1996 to elect the members of the eleventh Lok Sabha. The elections resulted in a hung parliament with no single party having a clear majority. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which had won the most seats, formed a short-lived government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, two weeks later the United Front coalition was able to secure a parliamentary majority and H. D. Deve Gowda of Janata Dal became Prime Minister. In 1997 Inder Kumar Gujral, also from the United Front, succeeded Gowda as Prime Minister. Due to the instability, early elections were held in 1998. The elections were the first since 1980 in which every states' seats were elected in a single election period.