.
Politics of India take place in a framework of a federal parliamentary multi-party representative democratic republic modeled after the British Westminster System. The
Prime Minister of India is the head of government, while the President of India is the formal head of state and holds substantial reserve
powers, placing him or her in approximately the same position
as the British monarch. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the
government and the two chambers of the Parliament of India. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the
legislature.
According to its
constitution, India
is a "sovereign
socialist secular
democratic
republic." India is the largest state by population with a democratically-elected
government. Like the
United States, India has a federal form of government, however, the central
government in India has greater power in relation to its states, and its central government is patterned
after the
British parliamentary system. Regarding the former, "the Centre", the national
government, can and has dismissed state governments if no majority party or coalition
is able to form a government or under specific Constitutional clauses, and can impose
direct federal rule known as President's rule. Locally, the Panchayati
Raj system has several administrative functions.
For most of the years since independence, the federal government has been led by
the
Indian National Congress (INC),[1]
Politics in the states have been dominated by several national parties including the
INC, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
(CPI(M)) and various regional parties. From 1950 to 1990, barring two brief periods,
the INC enjoyed a parliamentary majority. The INC was out of power between 1977
and 1980, when the
Janata Party won the election owing to public discontent with the corruption
of the then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi. In 1989, a
Janata Dal-led National Front coalition in alliance
with the Left Front
coalition won the elections but managed to stay in power for only two years.[2]
As the 1991 elections gave no political party a majority, the INC formed a minority government under Prime Minister
P.V. Narasimha Rao and was able to complete its five-year term.[3]
The years 1996–1998 were a period of turmoil in the federal government with several
short-lived alliances holding sway. 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.[4]
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.[5]
In the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, it won again with a surprising majority, the INC
itself winning more than 200 seats.
At the federal level, India is the most populous democracy in the world.[6][7]
While many neighboring countries witness frequent coups, Indian democracy has been suspended only once.[8]
Nevertheless, Indian politics is often described as chaotic. More than a fifth of
parliament members face criminal charges[8].
Central and State Governments
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 Real national executive power is centered in the Council of
Ministers, led by the Prime Minister of India. The President appoints
the Prime Minister, who is designated by legislators of the political party or coalition
commanding a parliamentary majority. The President then appoints subordinate ministers
on the advice of the Prime Minister. In reality, the President has no discretion
on the question of whom to appoint as Prime Minister except when no political party
or coalition of parties gains a majority in the Lok Sabha. Once the Prime Minister
has been appointed, the President has no discretion on any other matter whatsoever,
including the appointment of ministers. But all Central Government decisions are
nominally taken in his name.
Legislative
branch
The constitution designates the Parliament of India as the legislative branch to
oversee the operation of the government. India's bicameral parliament consists of the
Rajya Sabha
(Council of States) and the
Lok Sabha (House of the People). The Council of Ministers is held responsible
to the Lok Sabha.
The government can enact laws and ordinances as required for the governance of the
country. However, laws and ordinances have to be passed by the legislative branch
in order to be effected. Parliament sessions are conducted to discuss, analyze and
pass the laws tabled as Acts. Any law is first proposed as a bill in the lower house.
If the lower house approves the bill in current form, the bill is then proposed
to be enacted in the upper house. If not, the bill is sent for amendment and then
tabled again so as to be passed as an Act. Even if the bill is passed in the lower
house, the upper house has the right to reject the proposed bill and send it back
to the government for amending the bill. Therefore, it can be said that the governance
of India takes place under two processes; the executive process and the legislative
process. Ideally, the governance cannot be done through the individual processes
alone. After the Bill is passed by both the houses, the President signs the Bill
as an Act. Thus the legislative branch also acts under the name of the President,
like the executive branch.
Ordinances are laws that are passed in lieu of Acts, when the parliament is not
in session. When the parliament is in recess, the President assumes the legislative
powers of both the houses temporarily, under Part V: Chapter III - Article 335 of
the Constitution of India. The government has to propose a law to the President
during such periods. If the President is fully satisfied with the bill, and signs
the bill, it becomes an ordinance. The powers of ordinances are temporary, and each
ordinance has to be tabled in the parliament when the houses reassemble. The President
also has the right to withdraw an ordinance.
State
Government
States in India have their own elected governments, whereas Union Territories are
governed by an administrator appointed by the central government. Some of the state
legislatures are bicameral, patterned after the two houses of the national parliament.
The states' chief ministers are responsible to the legislatures in the same way
the prime minister is responsible to parliament.
Each state also has a presidentially appointed governor who may assume certain broad
powers when directed by the central government. The central government exerts greater
control over the union territories than over the States, although some territories
have gained more power to administer their own affairs. Local state governments
in India have less autonomy compared to their counterparts in the United States
and Australia.
Judicial
branch
India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble
those of Anglo-Saxon
countries. The constitution designates the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the
lower courts as the authority to resolve disputes among the people as well as the
disputes related to the people and the government. The constitution through its
articles relating to the judicial system provides a way to question the laws of
the government, if the common man finds the laws as unsuitable for any community
in India..
Local
governance
Main article:
Panchayati Raj
On April 24, 1993, the Constitutional (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 came into force
to provide constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions. This Act was
extended to Panchayats in the tribal areas of eight States, namely Andhra Pradesh,
Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan
from 24 December 1996.
The Act aims to provide 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj for all States having population
of over 2 million, to hold Panchayat elections regularly every 5 years, to provide
reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women, to appoint
State Finance Commission to make recommendations as regards the financial powers
of the Panchayats and to constitute District Planning Committee to prepare draft
development plan for the district.
Role of political parties
As like any other democracy, political parties represent different sections among
the Indian society and regions, and their core values play a major role in the politics
of India. Both the executive branch and the legislative branch of the government
are run by the representatives of the political parties who have been elected through
the elections. Through the electoral process, the people of India choose which majority
in the lower house, a government can be formed by that party or the coalition.
India has a multi-party system, where there are a number of national as well as
regional parties. A regional party may gain a majority and rule a particular state.
If a party represents more than 4 states then such parties are considered as national
parties. In the 61 years since India's independence, India has been ruled by the
Indian National Congress (INC) for 48 of those years. The party enjoyed
a parliamentary majority barring two brief periods during the 1970s and late 1980s.
This rule was interrupted between 1977 to 1980, when the Janata Party coalition won the election owing to public
discontent with the controversial state of emergency declared
by the then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi. The
Janata Dal won elections in 1989, but its government managed to hold
on to power for only two years. Between 1996 and 1998, there was a period of political
flux with the government being formed first by the right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followed
by a left-leaning
United Front coalition. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance with
smaller regional parties, and became the first non-INC and coalition government
to complete a full five-year term. The 2004 Indian elections saw the INC
winning the largest number of seats to form a government leading the United Progressive Alliance, and supported
by left-parties and those opposed to the BJP.
On 22 May 2004,
Manmohan Singh was appointed the Prime Minister of India following the
victory of the
INC & the left front in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The UPA now rules India without
the support of the left front. Previously, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken office in October
1999 after a general election in which a BJP-led coalition of 13 parties called
the
National Democratic Alliance emerged with a majority.
Formation of coalition governments reflects the transition in Indian politics away
from the national parties toward smaller, more narrowly-based regional
parties. Some regional parties, especially in South India, are deeply aligned
to the ideologies of the region unlike the national parties and thus the relationship
between the central government and the state government in various states has not
always been free of rancor. Disparity between the ideologies of the political parties
ruling the centre and the state leads to severely skewed allocation of resources
between the states.
Political
issues
Social
issues
The
lack of homogeneity in the Indian population causes division between different
sections of the people based on religion, region, language, caste and race. This has led to the rise
of political parties with agendas catering to one or a mix of these groups.
Some parties openly profess their focus on a particular group, for example, the
Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam's focus on the dravid population, and the Shiv Sena's pro-Marathi agenda. Some other parties claim to
be universal in nature, but tend to draw support from particular sections of the
population, for example, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (translated as National
People's Party) has a vote bank among the Yadav and
Muslim population of
Bihar and the All India Trinamool Congress
does not have any significant support outside West Bengal. The Bharatiya Janata Party, the party with
the second largest number of MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha, has an image of being pro-Hindu, and anti-Muslim
and anti-Christian.
Such support from particular sections of the population affects the agenda and policies
of such parties, and refute their claims of being universal representatives. The
Congress may be the most secular party with a national agenda, however it
is practices votebank
politics to gain the support of minorities, especially Muslims. The support
of the Congress for the provision of Haj subsidy to Muslim pilgrims to Mecca is one such example.
The narrow focus and
votebank politics of most parties, even in the central government and central
legislature, sidelines national issues such as economic welfare and national security.
Moreover, internal security is also threatened as incidences of political parties
instigating and leading violence between two opposing groups of people is a frequent
occurrence.
[edit] Economic issues
Economic issues like
poverty,
unemployment,
development are main issues that influence politics. Garibi hatao
(eradicate poverty) has been a slogan of the Indian National Congress for long. The
Bharatiya Janata Party is seen as a party favourable to businesses and economic
development. The Communist Party of India has a left-wing
view of economics and is opposed to privatization, globalization and foreign investments. The economic policies
of most other parties do not go much further than providing populist subsidies and
reservations. As a noteworthy case, the manifesto of the Samajwadi Party, the third largest party in the
15th Lok Sabha,
for the
2009 general elections promised to reduce the use of computers upon being
elected.
Law and
order
Religious violence, terrorism, Naxalism, and caste-related violence
are major issues that affect the political scene of India. Stringent anti-terror
legislations like TADA, POTA and MCOCA have received much political attention,
both in favour as well as criticism.
Law and order issues such as action against organized crime are not issues that
affect the outcomes of elections. On the other hand, there is a criminal-politician
nexus. Many elected legislators have criminal cases against them. In July 2008 Washington
Times reported that nearly a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced criminal charges,
"including
human trafficking, immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even
murder".[9]
See also
External
links
References
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