Political structure
The Indian Union currently is constituted by 28 states and seven
centrally administered Union Territories. The largest democratic nation
as prescribed in the Constitution of India is a Sovereign, Socialist,
Secular Democratic Republic. It is on the basis of these guidelines that
the country is governed by elected representative of the state voted to
power on the basis of Universal Adult Suffrage. The state is governed at
various levels with separate roles assigned to the Executive,
Legislature and the Judiciary. Read further to get a basic know-how of
the State of India.
Form of government - Parliamentary Government, based on
universal adult franchise.
Legislature - The Parliament of India is headed by the President
and constitutes the two Houses, known as Rajya Sabha or Upper House
(Council of States) and Lok Sabha or Lower House (House of the People).
Executive - Consists of the President heading the Republic of
India, Vice-President and Council of Ministers led by the Prime
Minister.
Judiciary - The Apex Judiciary body in the country is the
Supreme Court followed by the High Courts of the state. The Judiciary is
independent of the executive.
Federal System
The Indian Union as mentioned above is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic
Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government. India enjoys a
federal form of government with the Union Government heading the state
of India led by the Prime Minister. The twenty eight states of India are
governed by elected local governments having independent charge and free
from interference of the Central Government. Nonetheless the state and
Union Government work in harmony for the progress of the country as a
whole. The Indian polity is governed according to the Constitution,
which was framed by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and
came into force on 26 January 1950. The Union Executive consists of the
President, the Vice-President and Council of Ministers with the Prime
Minister at the head to aid and advise the President.
The President of India is the constitutional head of Executive of the
Union and is the supreme commander of the armed forces of the country.
The real executive power vests in the Council of Ministers with the
Prime Minister as its head. It is mentioned in the Article 74(1) of the
Constitution that there shall be a Council of Ministers headed by the
Prime Minister to aid and advise the President who shall, in exercise of
his functions, act in accordance with such advice. The Council of
Ministers are the directly elected members of the state on the basis of
Universal Adult Franchise and hence are the true representative of the
people of the country. This makes the Council of Ministers collectively
responsible to the Lok Sabha which is the House of the People.
In the states also a similar power structure is enforced as is applied
at the Union level. The Governor, as the representative of the
President, is the head of State, but real executive power rests with the
Chief Minister who heads the Council of Ministers. The Council of
Ministers are collectively responsible to the elected legislative
assembly of the state which looks after the affairs of state interest.
In the Constitution of India it is clearly outlined that it is mandatory
to share legislative power between Parliament and the State
Legislatures, and provides for the vesting of residual powers in
Parliament. The power to amend the Constitution solely vests in the
Parliament.
