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Political system of India

Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary secular democratic republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. It is based on the federal structure of government, although the word is not used in the Constitution itself. India follows the dual polity system, i. e. federal in nature, that consists of the central authority at the centre and states at the periphery. The Constitution defines the organizational powers and limitations of both central and state governments; it is well recognised, fluid (Preamble of the Constitution being rigid and to dictate further amendments to the Constitution) and considered supreme, i. e. the laws of the nation must conform to it. There is a provision for a bicameral legislature consisting of an upper house, the Rajya Sabha (Council of States), which represents the states of the Indian federation, and a lower house, the Lok Sabha (House of the People), which represents the people of India as a whole. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, which is headed by the Supreme Court. The court's mandate is to protect the Constitution, to settle disputes between the central government and the states, to settle inter state disputes, to nullify any central or state laws that go against the Constitution and to protect the fundamental rights of citizens, issuing writs for their enforcement in cases of violation. There are 543 members in the Lok Sabha, who are elected using plurality voting (first past the post) system from 543 Single member district. There are 245 members in the Rajya Sabha, out of which 233 are elected through indirect elections by single transferable vote by the members of the state legislative assemblies; 12 other members are elected/nominated by the President of India. Governments are formed through elections held every five years (unless otherwise specified), by parties that secure a majority of members in their respective lower houses (Lok Sabha in the central government and Vidhan Sabha in states). India had its first general election in 1951, which was won by the Indian National Congress, a political party that went on to dominate subsequent elections until 1977, when a non Congress government was formed for the first time in independent India. The 1990s saw the end of single party domination and the rise of coalition governments. The latest 17th Lok Sabha elections was conducted in seven phases from 11 April 2019 to 19 May 2019 by the Election commission of India. That elections once again brought back single party rule in the country, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being able to claim a majority in the Lok Sabha. In recent decades, Indian politics has become a dynastic affair. Possible reasons for this could be the party stability, absence of party organisations, independent civil society associations that mobilise support for the parties and centralised financing of elections. According to the V Dem Democracy indices India in 2023 was the 19th most electoral democratic country in Asia.

When compared to other democracies, India has had a large number of political parties during its history under democratic governance. It has been estimated that over 200 parties were formed after India became independent in 1947. And as per the current publication report dated 23 September 2021 from the Election Commission of the India, the total number of parties registered was 2858, with 9 national parties and 54 state parties, and 2796 unrecognized parties working in country.

Although a strict anti defection law had been passed in 1984, there has been a continued tendency amongst politicians to float their own parties rather than join a broad based party such as the Congress or the BJP. Between the 1984 and 1989 elections, the number of parties contesting elections increased from 33 to 113. In the decades since, this fragmentation has continued.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – Centre right to right wing coalition led by BJP was formed in 1998 after the elections. NDA formed a government, although the government did not last long as AIADMK withdrew support from it resulting in 1999 general elections, in which NDA won and resumed power. The coalition government went on to complete the full five years term, becoming the first non Congress government to do so. In the 2014 General Elections, NDA once again returned to powers for the second time, with a historic mandate of 336 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats. BJP itself won 282 seats, thereby electing Narendra Modi as the head of the government. In a historic win, the NDA stormed to power for the third term in 2019 with a combined strength of 353 seats, with the BJP itself winning an absolute majority with 303 seats. Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I. N. D. I. A.) – formed by merger of United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Left Front and other smaller alliances, centre left to left wing coalition led by Indian National Congress (INC); this alliance was created ahead of the 2024 Indian general election, to take down the ruling National Democratic Alliance government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Indian general election. The alliance has been formed ahead of the ahead of the 2024 Indian general election with 26 opposition party, with the INC being the principal opposition party, but without the official status of the Leader of the Opposition since they failed to win the minimum required seats.

India has seen political corruption for decades. Democratic institutions soon became federally owned, dissent was eliminated and a majority of citizens paid the price. India has consistently scored poorly on the Corruption Perceptions Index, with more than 39% of people paying bribes for public services. The political corruption in India is weakening its democracy and has led to the erosion of trust by the general public in the political system, as 89% of people in India recognize the widespread problem.

Indian political parties have low level of internal party democracy and therefore, in Indian elections, both at the state or national level, party candidates are typically selected by the party elites, more commonly called the party high command. The party elites use a number of criteria for selecting candidates. These include the ability of the candidates to finance their own election, their educational attainment, and the level of organization the candidates have in their respective constituencies. Quite often the last criterion is associated with candidate criminality.

Panchayati Raj Institutions or Local self government bodies play a crucial role in Indian politics, as it focuses on grassroot level administration in India. On 24 April 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, Odisha and Rajasthan from 24 December 1996. The Act aims to provide a three tier system of Panchayati Raj for all States having a population of over 2 million, to hold Panchayat elections regularly every five 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 a draft development plan for the district. was appointed the Prime Minister of India following the victory of the INC and the left front in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The UPA ruled 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. In May 2014, Narendra Modi of BJP was elected as the Prime Minister. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi once again emerged as a dominant force, leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to an extraordinary victory.

Terrorism, Naxalism, religious violence and caste related violence are important issues that affect the political environment of the Indian nation. Stringent anti terror legislation such as TADA, POTA and MCOCA have received much political attention, both in favour and against, and some of these laws were disbanded eventually due to human rights violations. However, UAPA was amended in 2019 to negative effect vis á vis human rights. Terrorism has affected politics in India since its conception, be it the terrorism supported from Pakistan or the internal guerrilla groups such as Naxalites. In 1991 the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during an election campaign. The suicide bomber was later linked to the Sri Lankan terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as it was later revealed the killing was an act of vengeance for Rajiv Gandhi sending troops in Sri Lanka against them in 1987. The Godhra train killings and the Babri Masjid demolition on 6 December 1992 resulted in nationwide communal riots in two months, with the worst occurring in Mumbai with at least 900 dead. The riots were followed by 1993 Bombay bombings, which resulted in more deaths. Law and order issues, such as action against organised crime are issues which do not 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, The Washington Post reported that nearly a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced criminal charges, "including human trafficking, child prostitution, immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even murder".

From 2006 to 2022 the situation of Indian democracy worsened. Indians lost state identity caused by the naxalite rebellion, little state presence in tribal areas and tensions between Hindus and minorities. The rebellions are a sign of the governments loss of power. Interreligious riots where observed. Political freedoms are limited since funding of NGOs, such as amnesty international, got more difficult due to the "Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act", though the constitution guarantees freedom of association. Hindu nationalist groups created a climate of intimidation over the country. Freedom of press is through the intimidation of journalists by police, criminals and politicians. In 2023, according to the Freedom in the World report by Freedom House, India was classified as a "partly free" country for the third consecutive year. The V Dem Democracy Indices by V Dem Institute classify India as an 'electoral autocracy'. In 2023, it referred to India as "one of the worst autocratisers in the last 10 years". According to the Democracy Index of the Economist Intelligence Unit, India is a Defective democracy.

On 25 July 2022, Droupadi Murmu was sworn in as India's new president, becoming India's first tribal president. Although it is largely a ceremonial post, Murmu's election as tribal woman was historic.

Like the president, the role of the vice president is also ceremonial, with no real authority vested in him/her. The vice president fills in a vacancy in the office of president (till the election of a new president). The only regular function is that the vice president functions as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. No other duties/powers are vested in the office. The current vice president is Jagdeep Dhankhar.

India has a federal form of government, and hence each state also has its own government. The executive of each state is the governor (equivalent to the president of India), whose role is ceremonial. The real power resides with the chief minister (equivalent to the prime minister) and the State Council of Ministers. States may either have a unicameral or bicameral legislature, varying from state to state. The chief minister and other state ministers are also members of the legislature.

Since the 1980s, Indian politics has become dynastic, possibly due to the absence of a party organization, independent civil society associations that mobilize support for the party, and centralized financing of elections. Dynastic politics is prevalent also in a number of political parties with regional presence such as All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (JKPDP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), National People's Party (NPP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Samajwadi Party (SP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Shiv Sena (SS), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).