Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Abdul KALAM (since 26 July 2002); Vice
President Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT (since 12 August 2002)
elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of
elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of
the states for a five-year term; election last held NA July 2002
(next to be held NA July 2007); vice president elected by both
houses of Parliament for a five-year term; election last held 12
August 2002 (next to be held NA August 2007); prime minister elected
by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative
elections; election last held NA October 1999 (next to be held NA
October 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE (since 19
March 1998)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister
election results: Abdul KALAM elected president; percent of
electoral college vote - NA%; Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT elected vice
president; percent of Parliament vote - 59.8%; Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE
elected prime minister; percent of vote - NA%
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or
Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members, up to
12 of which are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen
by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies;
members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha
(545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2 appointed by the
president; members serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 5 September through 3
October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - BJP
alliance 40.8%, Congress (I) alliance 33.8%, other 25.4%; seats by
party - BJP alliance 304, Congress (I) alliance 134, other 107
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president and remain in
office until they reach the age of 65)
Political parties and leaders:
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [C. Jayalalitha
JAYARAM]; All India Forward Bloc or AIFB, [D. BISWAS (general
secretary)]; Asom Gana Parishad [Brindaban GOSWAMI]; Bahujan Samaj
Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Jana
KRISNAMURTHY]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist
Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of
India/Marxist-Leninist or CPI/ML [Dipankar BHATTACHARYA]; Congress
(I) Party [Sonia GANDHI]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or DMK (a
regional party in Tamil Nadu) [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National
League [Suliaman SAITH]; Janata Dal (Secular) [H. D. Deve GOWDA];
Janata Dal (United) or JDU [Sharad YADAV]; Kerala Congress (Mani
faction) [K. M. MANI]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or
MDMK [VAIKO]; Muslim League [G. M. BANATWALA]; Nationalist Congress
Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo
Prasad YADAV]; Revolutionary Socialist Party or RSP [Abani ROY];
Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal [G.
S. TOHRA]; Shiv Sena [Bal THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila Congress [G. K.
VASAN]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]; Trinamool
Congress [Mamata BANERJEE]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations,
including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh; various separatist groups seeking greater
communal and/or regional autonomy, including the All Parties
Hurriyat Conference
International organization participation:
AfDB, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS,
C, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G- 6, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC,
NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNU, UPU, WCL,
WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Lalit MANSINGH consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco FAX: [1] (202) 483-3972 telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000 chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; note - Embassy located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Robert D. BLACKWILL embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [91] (11) 419-8000 FAX: [91] (11) 419-0017 consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay)
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange) (top),
white, and green with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in
the white band; similar to the flag of Niger, which has a small
orange disk centered in the white band