ent;
members serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 20 April through 10 May
2004 (next must be held by May 2009)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - INC 147, BJP 129, CPI (M) 43, SP 38, RJD 23, DMK
16, BSP 15, SS 12, BJD 11, CPI 10, NCP 10, JD (U) 8, SAD 8, PMK 6,
JMM 5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, TDP 4, TRS 4, independent 6, other 29, vacant
13; note - seats by party as of December 2006

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are
appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the
age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior")

Political parties and leaders:

Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP
[Rajnath SINGH]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]; Communist
Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of
India-Marxist or CPI-M [Prakash KARAT]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or
DMK [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia
GANDHI]; Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) [Sharad YADAV]; Jharkhand
Mukti Morcha or JMM [Shibu SOREN]; Left Front (an alliance of Indian
leftist parties); Lok Jan Shakti Party or LJSP [Ram Vilas PASWAN];
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [V. Gopalswamy
VAIKO]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Pattali
Makkal Katchi or PMK [S. RAMADOSS]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD
[Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV];
Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Parkash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena or SS
[Bal THACKERAY]; Telangana Rashtriya Samithi or TRS [K.
Chandrashekhar RAO]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU];
United Progressive Alliance or UPA [Sonia GANDHI] (India's ruling
party coalition of 12 political parties); note - India has dozens of
national and regional political parties; only parties or coalitions
with four or more seats in the People's Assembly are listed

Political pressure groups and leaders:

All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir Valley (separatist
group); Bajrang Dal (religious organization); National Socialist
Council of Nagaland in the northeast (separatist group); Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (religious organization); Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(religious organization
other: numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations;
various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional
autonomy

International organization partic