mited judicial review of legislative
acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 25 July 1992); Vice President
Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN (since 21 August 1992)
head of government:
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha RAO (since 21 June 1991)
cabinet:
Council of Ministers; appointed by the president on recommendation of
the prime minister
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament (Sansad)
Council of States (Rajya Sabha):
body consisting of not more than 250 members, up to 12 appointed by
the president, the remainder chosen by the elected members of the
state and territorial assemblies
People's Assembly (Lok Sabha):
elections last held 21 May, 12 and 15 June 1991 (next to be held by
November 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (545
total, 543 elected, 2 appointed) Congress (I) Party 245, Bharatiya
Janata Party 119, Janata Dal Party 39, Janata Dal (Ajit Singh) 20,
CPI/M 35, CPI 14, Telugu Desam 13, AIADMK 11, Samajwadi Janata Party
5, Shiv Sena 4, RSP 4, BSP 1, Congress (S) Party 1, other 23, vacant 9
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
Congress (I) Party, P. V. Narasimha RAO, president; Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), L.K. ADVANI; Janata Dal Party, Chandra SHEKHAR; Janata
Dal (Ajit Singh), Ajit SINGH; Communist Party of India/Marxist
(CPI/M), Harkishan Singh SURJEET; Communist Party of India (CPI),
Indrajit GUPTA; Telugu Desam (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh), N.
T. Rama RAO; All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK; a
regional party in Tamil Nadu), Jayaram JAYALALITHA; Samajwadi Party
(SP, formerly Samajwadi Janata Party), Mulayam Singh YADAV
(President), Om Prakash CHAUTALA, Devi LAL; Shiv Sena, Bal THACKERAY;
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Tridip CHOWDHURY; Bahujana Samaj
Party (BSP), Kanshi RAM; Congress (S) Party, leader NA; Communist
Party of India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Vinod MISHRA; Dravida
Munnetra Kazagham (a regional party in Tamil Nadu), M. KARUNANIDHI;
Akali Dal factions representing Sikh religious community in the
Punjab; National Conference (NC; a regional party in Jammu and
Kashmir), Farooq ABDULLAH
Other political or pressure groups:
various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional
autonomy; numerous religious or militant/chauvi