India, with a population of 1.3 billion and an electorate of around 900 million, is the world's largest democracy. The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 444 articles, 12 schedules and 98 amendments, with some 146,000 words in its English language version.
India is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary form of Government. The Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and came into force on 26th November 1950. India follows a parliamentary form of democracy and the government is federal in structure.
In the Indian political system, the President is the constitutional head of the executive of the Union of India. The real executive power is with the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. According to the Article 74(1) of the constitution, the Council of Ministers under the leadership of the Prime Minister is responsible to aid and assist the President in exercising the Presidents function. The Council of ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha, the House of People. In states the Governor is the representative of the President, though the real executive power is with the Chief Minister along with his Council of Ministers.
The President of India is the constitutional head of India and is the supreme commander of the nation’s armed forces. Elected by members of an Electoral College consisting of elected members of both the Houses of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of the states, the President’s term of office is for five years.
The President, has the power to proclaim an emergency in the country if he/she feels the security of the country or of any part of its territory is threatened by the following situations.
The Vice-President of India is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament. The method of electing the Vice President is the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. Like President, the VP holds office for five years, and also happens to be Ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and presides over its proceedings.
The Council Of Ministers is the supreme governing body in the country and is selected from the elected members of the Union Government. The Council of Ministers comprises of Cabinet Ministers, Minister of States and Deputy Ministers. Prime Minister heads the Council of Ministers and communicates all decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to administration of affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation to the President.
The Parliament is the legislative arm of the Union. It consists of the President, Rajya Sabha or the Upper House and Lok Sabha or the Lower House. All bills to be made into law require the consent of both the houses of parliament, except for the money bills, when the Lok Sabha is the supreme authority.
The Rajya Sabha consists of not more than 250 members. Of these, 233 represent states and union territories and 12 members are nominated by the President. Elections to the Rajya Sabha are indirect. Members to the Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of Legislative Assemblies of the concerned states. The Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution in contrast to the Lok Sabha and one third of its members retire every second year.
The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of universal adult franchise. As of today, the Lok Sabha consists of 545 members with two members nominated by the President to stand for the Anglo-Indian Community. The term of the Lok Sabha is for five years, unless dissolved under circumstances like failure of the leading party to prove clear majority or a no-confidence motion.
The system of government in states closely resembles that of the Union. In the states as well there are two major governing bodies - the legislative assembly and the legislative council. For the Legislative assembly direct elections are held and the political party receiving the majority votes forms the Government in the state. There are 28 states and seven Union territories in the country. Union Territories are administered by the President through a Governor or administrator appointed by him.
In India a recognized political party is categorized either as a National Party or a State Party. If a political party is recognized in four or more states and is either the ruling party or is in the opposition in these states, it is considered as a National Party. The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) are the prominent National Parties in the Country. Some of these parties have existed before the independence of the country while few of these emerged after political dynamism flourished in the country in post independent years.
