~4.6 years of direct central rule in a 34-year window
Ten spells between 1968 and 2002, totalling roughly 1,690 days:
| Spell | Duration | Approx. days |
| 25 Feb 1968 – 26 Feb 1969 | ~1 year | 367 |
| 1 Oct 1970 – 18 Oct 1970 | 17 days | 17 |
| 13 Jun 1973 – 8 Nov 1973 | ~5 months | 148 |
| 30 Nov 1975 – 21 Jan 1976 | ~7 weeks | 52 |
| 30 Apr 1977 – 23 Jun 1977 | ~8 weeks | 54 |
| 17 Feb 1980 – 9 Jun 1980 | ~3.7 months | 113 |
| 6 Dec 1992 – 4 Dec 1993 | ~1 year | 363 |
| 18 Oct 1995 – 17 Oct 1996 | 1 year | 365 |
| 17 Oct 1996 – 21 Mar 1997 | ~5 months | 155 |
| 8 Mar 2002 – 3 May 2002 | ~8 weeks | 56 |
That’s roughly 13–14% of the 1968–2002 period spent under direct Delhi rule rather than an elected UP government — a hard number for your instability thesis rather than an impressionistic one.
The shortest-ever elected tenure: C.B. Gupta, 19 days (14 Mar–2 Apr 1967).
- Shorter than some President’s Rule spells, including the 17-day one in October 1970 — worth noting that direct central rule and elected government were, at their extremes, nearly indistinguishable in duration.