Politics of India

The politics and government in the Republic of India work in adherence to the Constitution of India, which was adopted on November 26, 1949, by the Constituent Assembly of India, and took effect on on January 26, 1950. India is a parliamentary secular democratic republic, described as a “sovereign, socialist, secular democratic republic” in its constitution.

Part I of the Constitution of India describes India as a "Union of States," and is used interchangeably to refer to the "union government" or Government of India to denote the federal authority. India is divided among 28 states and 8 union territories for a total of 36 subnational entities. Its governance of those entities is described in the constitution as a quasi-federal system that incorporates elements from both federal and unitary forms of government. The states of India are self-governing administrative divisions each having a state government, whereas the union territories are governed directly by the union government, and are administered by a lieutenant governor or administrator appointed by the president of India. India follows a dual federalist system, however the Constitution defines the organizational powers and limitations of both states and union territories of India. Government operations are led by the president of India who, as the ceremonial head of state, holds formal executive power. In accordance to parliamentary elections, the president appoints the prime minister as the head of government, along with prospective ministers who are members of parliament.

The legal power to manage affairs in each state is shared or divided between the particular state government and the national union government. The union territories are directly governed by the union government with no state level government existing in these jurisdictions. 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. Vidhan Sabha (state legislative assemblies) represents the people residing in one of the 28 states.

The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, which is headed by the Supreme Court of India. 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 decree from the president of India. Union and state 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.

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 18th Lok Sabha elections was conducted in seven phases from 19 April 2024 to 1 June 2024 by the Election commission of India. The results bought in the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) to form in the next government

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.