INDIAN POLITICS

Prepared By:Manmohan Bisht

Some Facts About Indian Politics

The politics of India take place in a framework of a federal form of government. The Prime Minister of India is identified as the head of government of the nation. The President of India is said to be the formal head of state and holds substantial reserve powers. India is a nation that is characterized to be sovereign socialist secular democratic republic.

 The central government in India has greater power in relation to its states For most of the years since independence, the federal government has been guided by the Indian National Congress (INC)

Political Parties in India

National level parties - National parties are political parties which, participate in different elections all over India. Example of national parties 1. Indian National Congress 2. Bhartiya Janta Party 3. Bahujan Samaj Party 4. Samajwadi Party 5. Communist Party of India

 State Parties State Parties are those parties which, participate in different elections but only within one state. Example of State Parties 1. Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. 2. Telegu Desam in Andhra Pradesh. 3. Akali Dal in Punjab. 4. Dravida Munnetra Kazagham in Tamil Nadu.

Prime Minister
Leader of the majority party leader in Lok Sabha becomes the prime minister Prime minister nominates a cabinet members of Parliament in the ruling coalition Council of Ministers Effective power is concentrated in the office of the prime minister where most of the important policies originate

Prime Minister of India

Name Jawahar Lal Nehru Lal Bahdur Shahtri Indira Gandhi Moraji Desai Charan Singh Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi V.P. Singh Chandra Sekhar Party Congress Congress Congress Janata Janata Congress Congress Janata Dal Samajvadi Party Period 1947-64 1954-66 1966-77 1977-79 1979-80 1980-84 1984-89 1989-90 190-91 Cause of removal Death Death Electoral defeat Resignation Resignation Assassination Electronic defeat Defeat in Lok Sabha Resignation

P.V. Narsimha Rao

Congress

1991-96

Electoral defeat

Deve Gowda

National Front

1996-97

Resignation

J.K. Gujral

National Front

1997-98

Electoral defeat

Atal B. Vajpayee

BJP

1998-03

Electoral defeat

Manmohan Singh

Congress

2003- Continue

INC VS BJP
In India the two largest political parties are Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). From 1950 to 1990, barring two brief periods, the INC enjoyed a parliamentary majority. Between 1977 and 1980 the Janata Party won the election owing to public discontent with the corruption of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

 The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996, followed by the United Front coalition that excluded both the BJP and the INC. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with several other parties and became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term.

 In the 2004 Indian elections, the INC won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats and formed a government with a coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), supported by various parties. In the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, it won again with a surprising majority, the INC itself winning more than 200 seats.

Central Government of India

The central government exercises its broad administrative powers in the name of the President, whose duties are largely ceremonial. The president and vice president are elected indirectly for 5-year terms by a special electoral college The vice president assumes the office of president in case of the death or resignation of the incumbent president

 The constitution designates the governance of India under two branches, namely: the executive branch and the legislative branch The President appoints the Prime Minister, who is designated by legislators of the political party or coalition commanding a parliamentary majority. All Central Government decisions are nominally taken in his/her name.

State Government of India

States in India have their own elected governments. The states' chief ministers are responsible to the legislatures in the same way the prime minister is responsible to parliament. Local state governments in India have less autonomy compared to their counterparts in the United States, Africa and Australia.

Political administration of India

The Indian Parliament consists of two houses The Lower House called the Lok Sabha The Upper House called the Rajya Sabha In the national elections candidates are chosen for the Lower House The candidates are elected in territorial constituencies There are 543 territorial constituencies

Lower House( Lok Sabha)

Two members from the Anglo-Indian community are nominated to the Lower House by the President The law, which obliges Government office to reserve 15% from the Scheduled Castes and 7% from the Scheduled Tribes, also exists in the Parliament At least 22% of the Indian Parliament members belong to these two communities Most of the parliamentary activities, passing laws, noconfidence votes, budget bills, take place in the Lower House.

Upper House ( Rajya Sabha)

It consists of up to 250 members 230 members are elected by state legislatures and about 15 are nominated by the President Upper House cannot be dissolved, but one third of its members resign every two years The Upper House together with the Lower House amends the Constitution

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