Political System of India

GOVERNMENTS OF, BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE

The Union Parliament

        In the modern democratic States, the functions are performed by distinct wings of the Government which are more or less independent in their respective spheres. The law-making wing is called the Legislature, the governing wing is called the Executive and the wing that dispenses justice is called the Judiciary. India, the largest democracy of the world, has the same setup.

The Federation in India has two levels of government - one at the centre and the other in States and Union Territories. Both the Central and State governments have three organs: Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.

The Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the country in England and India.

In India, contrary to other Federations (like United States) there is only one citizenship, one flag, and one constitution. There is also single judiciary, not divided between the union and the states.

Parliament is the legislative organ of the government. The central Legislature or the Indian Parliament consists of three constituents-

==> the Lok Sabha

==> the Rajya Sabha

==> the President

The Lok Sabha represents the people of the country, the Rajya Sabha represents the Federating States.

The Lok Sabha

The Lower House of the Parliament of India is called House of the People or the 'Lok Sabaha', which is the representative body of the people.The maximum number of members of this House was fixed at 550 (After 1971 Census). All of its members are directly elected by citizens of India on the basis of universal adult franchise, except two who are appointed by the President of India. Every citizen of India who is over 18 years of age, irrespective of gender, caste, religion or race, who is otherwise not disqualified, is eligible to vote for the Lok Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha is also known as "Council of States" or the upper house. Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. However, one third of the members retire every second year, and are replaced by newly elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six years. Its members are indirectly elected by members of legislative bodies of the States.

   The Rajya Sabha can have a maximum of 250 members in all. Elections to it are scheduled and the chamber cannot be dissolved. Each member has a term of 6 years and elections are held for one-third of the seats after every 2 years. 238 members are to be elected from States and Union Territories and 12 are to be nominated by President of India 

President of India

The President of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The President is the formal head of the executive, legislature and judiciary of India and is the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.

The President is indirectly elected by the people through elected members of the Parliament of India (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) as well as of the state legislatures (Vidhan Sabhas and Vidhan Parishad) and serves for a term of five years. Historically, ruling party (majority in the Lok Sabha) nominees (for example, United Progressive Alliance nominee Shri Pranab Mukherjee) have been elected or largely elected unanimously.