National holiday: Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic, 26 January (1950)
Constitution: 26 January 1950
Legal system: based on English common law; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 25 July 1992)
was elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting
of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures
of the states; Vice President Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN (since 21
August 1992) was elected by both houses of Parliament
head of government: Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha RAO (since 21
June 1991) was appointed by the president
cabinet: Council of Ministers was appointed by the president on
recommendation of the prime minister
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Sansad) Council of States (Rajya Sabha): body consisting of not more than 250 members, up to 12 appointed by the president, the remainder chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies People's Assembly (Lok Sabha): elections last held 21 May, 12 and 15 June 1991 (next to be held 27 April through May 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (545 total, 543 elected, 2 appointed) Congress (I) Party 245, BJP 119, Janata Dal Party 39, Janata Dal (Ajit Singh) 20, CPI/M 35, CPI 14, Telugu Desam 13, AIADMK 11, Samajwadi Janata Party 5, Shiv Sena 4, RSP 4, BSP 1, Congress (S) Party 1, other 23, vacant 9; note - the distribution of seats as of 18 January 1995 is as follows: Congress (I) Party 260, BJP 117, CPI/M 36, Janata Dal Party 24, Samata Party 14, CPI 14, AIADMK 12, Janata Dal (Ajit) 7, Telugu Desam 7, RSP 4, Janata Dal (Ex-Ajit) 3, Samajwadi Party 3, BSP 3, AIFB 3, Shiv Sena 2, Congress (S) Party 1, Kerala Congress (Mani faction) 1, Bihar Peoples Party 1, India National League 1, other 14, vacant 16
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the
president
Political parties and leaders: Congress (I) Party, P. V. Narasimha
RAO, president; Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), L.K. ADVANI; Janata
Dal Party, Laloo Prasad YADAV; Janata Dal (Ajit), Ajit SINGH; Janata
Dal (Ex-Ajit), leader NA; Communist Party of India/Marxist (CPI/M),
Harkishan Singh SURJEET; Communist Party of India (CPI), Indrajit
GUPTA; Telugu Desam (Naidu) (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh),
Chandrababu NAIDU; All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK;
a regional party in Tamil Nadu), Jayaram JAYALALITHA; Samajwadi
Party (SP), Mulayam Singh YADAV (president), Om Prakash CHAUTALA,
Devi LAL; Shiv Sena, Bal THACKERAY; Revolutionary Socialist Party
(RSP), Tridip CHOWDHURY; Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Kanshi RAM;
Congress (S) Party, leader NA; Communist Party of
India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Vinod MISHRA; Dravida Munnetra
Kazagham (a regional party in Tamil Nadu), M. KARUNANIDHI; Akali Dal
factions representing Sikh religious community in the Punjab;
National Conference (NC; a regional party in Jammu and Kashmir),
Farooq ABDULLAH; Bihar Peoples Party, Lovely ANAND; Samata Party
(formerly Janata Dal members), George FERNANDES; Indian National
League, Suliaman SAIT; Kerala Congress (Mani faction), K.M. MANI;
All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), Prem Dutta PALIWAL (chairman), Chitta
BASU (general secretary); Congress (Tiwari), Arjun SINGH and N.D.
TIWARI
Other political or pressure groups: various separatist groups
seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy; numerous
religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Adam
Sena, Ananda Marg, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh
International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer),
AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G- 6, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM,
OAS (observer), PCA, SAARC, UN, UNAMIR, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIH, UNOMIL, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO