Politics of India takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of India is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. 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. The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of the land as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India. ... The Chief Justice of India is the highest position obtainable by a judge in India. ... Justice K.G. Balakrishnan; First Dalit cheif justice of India Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan aka Justice K G Balakrishnan, an Indian Judge and member of the Indian Supreme Court, has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of India. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Composition and Jurisdiction of District Courts In India : administration of justice at district level is done through law courts which are presided over by a judge. ... An Indian political scandal commonly refers to some action by a politician deemed unacceptable in law or by custom, or which is held to be morally unacceptable to the politicians peers or the electorate. ... The Republic of India, the second most populous country and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, is considered as a major power and a potential superpower. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... A map displaying todays federations. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of popular sovereignty by the peoples representatives. ... Look up republic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Prime Minister of India is, in practice, the most powerful person in the Government of India. ... The Head of Government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. ... Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the executive is the branch of a government charged with implementing, or executing, the law. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... Sansad Bhavan, The Parliament of India The Parliament of India (or Sansad) is bicameral. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      In law, the judiciary or judicial is the system of courts which administer justice in the name of the sovereign or state, a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. ...

According to its constitution, India is a "sovereign socialist secular democratic republic;" the largest state 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. “Sovereign” redirects here. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), British writer who coined the term secularism. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      For other uses, see Democracy (disambiguation). ... A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. ... India is subdivided into 28 states, 6 union territories and a national capital territory. ...

Constitution of India

Main article: Constitution of India

The Constitution of India lays down the basic structure of government under which the people are to be governed. It establishes the main organs of government - the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The Constitution not only defines the powers of each organ, but also demarcates their responsibilities. It regulates the relationship between the different organs and between the government and the people. It thus forms the basis of politics in India. The Constitution is superior to all other laws of the country. Every law enacted by the government has to be in conformity with the Constitution. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The governance of India is based on a tiered system, wherein the Constitution of India appropriates the subjects on which each tier of government has executive powers. The constitution uses the Seventh Schedule to delimit the subjects under three categories namely the union list, the state list and the concurrent list. The central government has the powers to enact laws on subjects under the union list, while the state governments have the powers to enact laws on subjects under the state list. Both the central as well as the state governments can enact laws on subjects under the concurrent list. However, the laws enacted by the central government under the concurrent list overrides the laws enacted by the state government when a conflict arises between those laws. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Central and State Governments

The central government exercises its broad administrative powers in the name of the President, whose duties may seem 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 President of India (Hindi: Rashtrapati) is the head of state and first citizen of India and the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces. ...

The constitution designates the governance of India under two branches namely the executive branch and the legislative branch. 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. The Prime Minister of India is, in practice, the most powerful person in the Government of India. ...

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. Sansad Bhavan, The Parliament of India The Parliament of India (or Sansad) is bicameral. ... Executive President Vice-President Prime Minister Dy. ... The Lok Sabha is the lower house in the Parliament of India. ...

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, analyse 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, 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 Acts are 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 as 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 123 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, where as 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. Thus, even after a law is passed, the judiciary provides the people of India the ultimate power to decide if their representatives whom they have elected are ruling the country appropriately. The famous parade helmet found at Sutton Hoo, probably belonging toRaedwald of East Anglia circa 625. ...

Role of political parties

For other political parties see List of political parties in India. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in India.

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 cannot be formed by that party or the coalition. A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... Political parties in India lists political parties in India. ... An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

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 as considered as a national parties. For most of its independent history, India has been ruled by the Indian National Congress (INC). 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. Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party and abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. ... The Janata Party (Peoples Party in Hindi) was an Indian political party that contested the Indian Emergency (1975-77) and became the first political party to defeat the Indian National Congress in the 1977 elections, forming the national government from 1977 to 1980. ... The Indian Emergency of (1975 - 77) is a 18-month period between 1975 and 1977, when President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, upon advice by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution of India, effectively bestowing her the power to rule by decree, suspending... Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Hindi: ) (19 November 1917 - October 31, 1984) was an Indian politician who served as Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. ... Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger one of the major Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal and a group of Congressmen led by V.P. Singh. ... “Right wing” redirects here. ... The Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] (Hindi: , English: ), created in 1980, is a major Indian political party. ... The United Front was a coalition of political parties which formed Indias government between 1996 and 1998. ... The National Democratic Alliance is a name used by at least two groups India - National Democratic Alliance (India) Iraq - National Democratic Alliance (Iraq) Sudan - National Democratic Alliance (Sudan) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Legislative elections were held in India, the worlds largest democracy, in four phases between April 20 and May 10, 2004. ... United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the present ruling coalition of political parties in India. ...

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 with 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. is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dr. Manmohan Singh (Punjabi: , Hindi: ) is the 17th and current Prime Minister of India. ... The Prime Minister of India is, in practice, the most powerful person in the Government of India. ... Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party and abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the present ruling coalition of political parties in India. ... Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Hindi: , pronunciation: ) (born December 25, 1924),( ਅਟਲ ਬਿਹਾਰੀ ਵਾਜਪੇਈ ) was the Prime Minister of India, briefly in 1996, and again from March 19, 1998 until May 19, 2004. ... The Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] (Hindi: , English: ), created in 1980, is a major Indian political party. ... The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a coalition in India. ...

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 than 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. The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This article is about regionalism in politics. ...

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