Government & politics — India

• the English name derives from the Indus River
• the Indian name "Bharat" may derive from the "Bharatas" tribe mentioned in the Vedas of the second millennium B.C.
• the name is also associated with Emperor Bharata, the legendary conqueror of all of India

• history: previous 1935 (preindependence); latest draft completed 4 November 1949, adopted 26 November 1949,
• effective 26 January 1950 amendments: proposed by either the Council of States or the House of the People; passage requires majority participation of the total membership in each house and at least two-thirds majority of voting members of each house, followed by assent of the president of India; proposed amendments to the constitutional amendment procedures also must be ratified by at least one half of the India state legislatures before presidential assent; amended many times, last in 2020

• common law system based on the English model
• separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus
• judicial review of legislative acts

• chief of state: President Droupadi MURMU (since 25 July 2022); Vice Preside
• Prime Minister Narendra MODI (since 26 May 2014) cabinet: Union Council of Ministers recommended by the prime minister,
• appointed by the president elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 18 July 2022 (next to be held in July 2027); vice president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 5 August 2022 (next to be held in August 2027); following legislative elections, the prime minister is electe
• d by Lok Sabha members of the majority party election results: 2022: Droupadi MURMU elected president; percent of electoral college vote - Droupadi MURMU (BJP) 64%, Yashwant SINHA (AITC) 35.9%; Jagdeep DHANKHAR elected vice president; percent of electoral college vote - Jagdeep DHANKHAR (BJP) 74.4%, Margaret ALVA (INC) 25.6% 2017: Ram Nath KOVIND elected president; percent of electoral college vote - Ram Nath KOVIND (BJP) 65.6%, Meira KUMAR (INC) 34.4%; Venkaiah NAIDU elected vice president; percent of electoral college vote - Venkaiah NAIDU (BJP) 67.9%, Gopal-krishna GANDHI 32.1%

Description

bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of: Council of States or Rajya Sabha (245 seats; 233 members indirectly elected by state and territorial assemblies by proportional representation vote and 12 members appointed by the president; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years at various dates) House of the People or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 2 appointed by the president; members serve 5-year terms)

Elections

Council of States - last held by state and territorial assemblies at various dates in 2019 (in progress March through July 2022 to fill 70 expiry seats) House of the People - last held April-May 2019 in 7 phases (next to be held on 30 April 2024)

Election Results

• Council of States - percent of vote by party - NA
• seats by party - BJP 97, INC 34, AITC 13, DMK 10, other 2, independent 2;

Composition

• men 209, women 29, percent of women 13.8% House of the People - percent of vote by party - BJP 55.8%, INC 9.6%, AITC 4.4%, YSRCP 4.4%, DMK 4.2%, SS 3.3%, JDU 2.9%, BJD 2.2%, BSP 1.8%, TRS 1.7%, LJP 1.1%, NCP 0.9%, SP 0.9%, other 21.2%, independent 0.7%
• seats by party - BJP 303, INC 52, DMK 24, AITC 22, YSRCP 22, SS 18, JDU 16, BJD 12, BSP 10, TRS 9, LJP 6, NCP 5, SP 5, other 35, independent 4, vacant 2;

Composition

men 465, women 78, percent of women 14.3%;

Note

total Parliament percent of women 11.3%

Note

• in late September 2023, both the Council of States and the House of the People passed a bill that reserves one-third of the House seats for women
• implementation could begin for the House election in 2029

• highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of 28 judges, in
• cluding the chief justice) judge selection and term of office: justices appoin
• ted by the president to serve until age 65 subordinate courts: High Courts; District Courts;
• Labour Court note: in mid-2011, India’s Cabinet approved the "National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reform" to eliminate judicial corruption and reduce the backlog of cases

Summary

28 states

Regions or States

• and 8 union territories*
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands*
• Andhra Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Assam
• Bihar
• Chandigarh*
• Chhattisgarh
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu*
• Delhi*
• Goa
• Gujarat
• Haryana
• Himachal Pradesh
• Jammu and Kashmir*
• Jharkhand
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Ladakh*
• Lakshadweep*
• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Manipur
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Nagaland
• Odisha
• Puducherry*
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Sikkim
• Tamil Nadu
• Telangana
• Tripura
• Uttar Pradesh
• Uttarakhand
• West Bengal note: although its status is that of a union territory
• the official name of Delhi is National Capital Territory of Delhi

• Aam Aadmi Party or AAP [Arvind KEJRIWAL]
• All India Trinamool Congress or AITC [Mamata BANERJEE]
• Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]
• Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Jagat Prakash NADDA]
• Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]
• Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI(M) [Sitaram YECHURY]
• Dravida Munnetra Khazhagam [Muthuvel Karunanidhi STALIN]
• Indian National Congress or INC [Mallikarjun KHARGE]
• Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]
• Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Lalu Prasad YADAV]
• Samajwadi Party or SP [Akhilesh YADAV]
• Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Sukhbir Singh BADAL]
• Shiv Sena or SS [Uddhav THACKERAY]
• Telegana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrashekar RAO]
• Telugu Desam Party or TDP [N. Chandrababu NAIDU]
• YSR Congress or YSRCP or YCP [Y.S. Jaganmohan REDDY]
• Note: India has dozens of national and regional political parties

• no citizenship by descent only: at least one
• no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

chief of mission

Ambassador Eric M. GARCETTI (since 11 May 2023) embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi - 110021 mailing address: 9000 New Delhi Place, Washington DC 20521-9000

telephone

[91] (11) 2419-8000

FAX

[91] (11) 2419-0017

Email address and website

• acsnd@state.gov
• https://in.usembassy.gov/

consulate(s) general

Chennai (Madras), Hyderabad, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay)

chief of mission

Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Sripriya RANGANATHAN (since 1 February 2024)

chancery

2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; Consular Wing located at 2536 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

[1] (202) 939-7000

FAX

[1] (202) 265-4351

Email address and website

• minca.washington@mea.gov.in
• https://www.indianembassyusa.gov.in/

consulate(s) general

Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco