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Indian Political

System

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Decline in morality or reflection of society ?

What we will cover

1. Nation Vs. Country

2. Constitution of India

3. Role of the Judiciary

4. Power of the President/Governor

5. The Semicircle of Economic, Religious and Political

Thought

6. Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the States

7. Political parties, groupings, fronts and alliances

8. National Parties

9. Regional Parties

Nation Vs. Country

• India

– One Nation?

– One Country?

• Europe

– One Nation?

– One country?

• Two Nation Theory

• Nationalists

• Tamil Nation, Bengali Nation, Sikh Nation?

THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

The Preamble to the Constitution

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to

constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual

and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty sixth day of

November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO

OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

The Preamble to the Constitution

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to

constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual

and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty sixth day of

November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO

OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

Important Terms

• Sovreign, Democratic, Republic

• Socialist, Secular, Integrity

– 42nd Amendment in 1976

• Secure

– Justice, Liberty and Equality

• Promote

– Fraternity

• Unity and Integrity

Other features of our country

• Representative / Indirect Democracy

• Universal Adult Franchise

• Legislature, Executive, Judiciary – The three

pillars of democracy. The first elected, the

other two not.

• Federal Structure of Government

• System of Checks and Balances

• Role of Media – “Fourth Estate”

M

E

D

I

A

ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY

Role of the Judiciary

• Independent judiciary

• The power of Judicial Review

• Judicial Activism

– Governance deficit?

– Interference in policy making?

• Ninth Schedule – immune from judicial review

– OBC Reservation

– Legislature Supreme

• Elected Judges in USA, unlike India

Identify

3 4 5

1 2

POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT/GOVERNOR

Powers of the President/Governor • Envisioned as Rubber stamp

• Power during hung parliament/assemblies

• Pocket Veto

– Zail Singh, Postal Bill 1986

– APJ Abdul Kalam, Office of Profit

• Coalition/Political Exigencies

– Buta Singh

– HR Bhardwaj

– Pratibha Patil

• Dismissal of opposition led state governments

– 1966-77 – 39 times by Indira Gandhi

– 1977-79 – 11 times by Opposition

The Semicircle of Religious, Economic and Political Thought

The

Leftists

The

Rightists Centrists

Congress

BJP

VHP/RSS

Bajrang Dal

Shiv Sena

SIMI/Al-

Qaeda/Taliban/Nazis

Maoists/Naxalites/MCC

Third Front/BSP/SP/Janta Dal

CPI CPI(M)

Ranvir Sena

Republicans (US) /

Conservatives-

Tories (UK) Labour (UK) / Democrats (US)

MNS

Indian Parliament – Lok Sabha

• Total Number of seats 545

• Elections held for 543, 2 seats reserved for

Anglo-Indians

• Seats to be distributed as per population

after each census, however, suspended since

1976 due to population distribution concerns.

• Delimitation carried out regularly.

• Reservation for SC and ST candidates.

Lok Sabha Seats and State Govt

• UP – 80

• Maharashtra – 48

• AP – 42

• WB – 42

• Bihar – 40

• Tamil Nadu – 39

• MP – 29

• Karnataka – 28

• Gujarat – 26

• Rajasthan - 25

Indian Parliament – Rajya Sabha

• Council of states

• 250 Seats Maximum

• 245 Seats currently, 233 elected, 12

nominated

• Vice-President – Chairperson

POLITICAL PARTIES, GROUPINGS,

FRONTS AND ALLIANCES

Members of the Union cabinet of India on 31st January 1950

ALLIANCES

United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

• Congress - 206

• Trinamool Congress – 19

• DMK – 18

• NCP – 9

• NC – 3

Out side supporters:

• SP – 22

• BSP – 21

• RJD - 4

National Democratic Alliance (NDA)

• BJP – 116

• JD (U) – 20

• Shiv Sena – 11

Third Front/United National

Progressive Alliance

• Floating….!!!

• CPI + CPM + Forward Bloc

• TDP

• AIADMK

• Others….

Third Front

NATIONAL PARTIES

Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

• GOP

• Founded 1885 – A.O. Hume

• To serve as a safety valve – a pressure

release mechanism through dialogue

between India and Rulers after 1857

“debacle”

• Morphed into demand for more power

• Moderates and Extremists (Naram Dal &

Garam Dal)

The First Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress • Gandhi, Bose, Patel, Nehru led at various times

• Independence, Nehru, Morarji Desai, Shastri, Indira

Gandhi

• K Kamaraj – Kingmaker

• Samyukt Vidhayak Dal Crisis

• Split – Cong (O) and Cong (I)

• Left-Right tendencies – Garibi Hatao, Soviet Union

• Cong O Later, merged into Janta Party in 1977

• India wins against Pakistan, Birth of Bangladesh

• Rise of Autocracy and Sanjay Gandhi in the 1970s

• Widespread poverty, unrest, unemployment

• Rise of JP – Back into politics - Sampoorna Kranti

• Emergency

Sampoorna Kranti Rally 5th June 1975 - Patna

1

2

3 4

5 6 7

Indian National Congress

• Regrouping during opposition rule

• Support to Bhindrawale

• Outside support to Charan Singh

• Back to power

• Death of Sanjay Gandhi

• Khalistan and Punjab problem

• Assassination of Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale

Assassination of Indira Gandhi

Indian National Congress

• Rajiv Gandhi – Mr. Clean

• Scandals, Scams

• Loses power

• Backs Chandrashekhar

• Rajiv Gandhi assassinated

• PV Narasimha in power

• Sitaram Kesri

Rajiv, Sonia and …..?

Identify!

Masterchef UP Contest?

Bhartiya Janta Party

Bharatiya Janta Party

• Born as Bhartiya Jana Sangha

• Shyama Prasad Mukherjee – 1951

• Death of SPM in 1953 in Kashmir Jail

• Deen Dayal Upadhaya – Gen Secy 1953-1968

• Aligned with right wing Swatantra Party of C.

Rajagopalachari

• Merged with Congress (O), Bhartiya Lok Dal,

Socialist Party of India (Raj Narain), Janta

Morcha (of JP and Morarji Desai)

• Split in 1980 and reborn as BJP

1952 2003

Bhartiya Janta Party

• Ram Janmabhoomi Case – 1986

• Bofors Scam

• Post-Elections 1989 - Support of VP Singh’s

Janta Dal from outside

• Rathyatra 1990 – LK Advani

• Arrested in Bihar by Lalu Yadav’s govt in Oct

1990.

• Support withdrawn – Govt. Falls

• Elections 1991 – In opposition

• 6th Dec1992 – Disputed Structure demolished

• Advani, Uma Bharti charged…let

off…charged…let off….charged…let off

Various BJP Leaders

Bhartiya Janta Party

• 13 day govt…(1996)

• 13 month govt… (1998-99)

• 5 years (1999-2004)

• Godhara Riots - Gujarat

• In opposition since 2004

BJP – Opinion Polariser

• “Non-secular” credentials make it a pariah in

“Secular” politics

• Problems with allies like JD(U) - Nitish Kumar,

BJD – Naveen Patnaik etc.

• Even within BJP opinion divided on leaders

like Narendra Modi.

Sangh Parivar • RSS – Ideological Fountainhead

• Started in 1925

• Banned thrice (British Rule, 1948-49, Emergency)

• Sarsanghchalak

1. Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgevaar (1925-1940)

2. Madhav Sadashiv Golvalkar (1940 – 1973)

3. Madhukar Dattatreya Deoras (1973-93)

4. Prof. Rajendra Singh (1993-2000)

5. KS Sudarshan (2000-2009)

6. Mohan Bhagwat (March 2009 – Present)

1

2

3

4

5 6

Sangh Parivar

• Vishwa Hindu Parishad

• Bajrang Dal

• Bhartiya Kisan Sangh

• Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh

• Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad

• Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha

• Swadeshi Jagran Manch

• Sewa Bharti

• Bharat Tibet Maitri Sangh

• Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

• Shiksha Bharati

• Bhartiya Itihas Sankalna Kendra

Left Front

• 1925 (or 1920?)

• Split into two main parts

– CPI

– CPI (Marxist)

– Supporters of CPSU and CPC respectively in

1960s

• CPI(M) – Prakash Karat

• CPI – AB Bardhan

Bahujan Samaj Party

• BAMCEF – All India Backward and Minorities

Communities Employees Federation – 1973

• DS4 – Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti

– 1981

• Bahujan Samaj Party – 1984

• Rivalry with SP

BSP Leaders

Nationalist Congress Party

• Foreign Origin of Sonia Gandhi

• Sharad Pawar, PA Sangma, Tariq Anwar

• Currently 9 MPs in the LS

PROMINENT STATE PARTIES

TAMIL POLITICS

1 2 2 3

3

4

4 5

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)

• Tamil Nationalism Movement

• Periyar EV Ramasamy

• Joined Congress in 1919 but left in 1925

• Legacy of Rationalism / Social Reform / Women’s liberation / Self-respect movement, Dravidsthan / Dravid Nadu / Anti – Hindi / Anti Indo-Aryan cultural imposition / Tamil Language & culture preservation

• Justice Party

• Dravidar Kazhagham (Dravidian Association)

• Split with CN Annadurai – Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Dravid Advancement Association)

• 1967 – CN Annadurui is CM of Madras/TN

• 1969 – CN Annadurai dies and script-writer-

turned politician M. Karunanidhi becomes CM

of TN

• 1972 – Cine Star MGR moves out and forms

Anna DMK, later All India Anna DMK

• M. Karunanidhi – 1969-71, 1971-76, 1989-

91, 1996-2001, 2006-2011

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra

Kazhagam (AIADMK)

• MGR formed in 1972.

• MGR - First film hero to become CM in 1977

• 1977-80, 1980-84, 1984-87

• Janaki Ramachandran – brief spell as CM

• J Jayalalitha – Film heroine turned politician

• 1991-96, 2002-06, 2011-Present - CM

Relationship with National Parites

• Initially, DMK opposed to Congress

• So, AIADMK aligned with Congress

• Later, DMK aligned with anti-Hindutva,

therefore, aligned with Congress

• So, AIADMK aligned with BJP

• However, there are no permanent enemies or

friends

MGR with Indira

Jayalalitha with AB Vajapayee

Arrested!!

12th Nov, 2011

No permanent enemies or friends!

The Rajinikanth Factor

TELUGU POLITICS

Telugu Desam Party

• NTR – 1982

• Alternative to ruling Congress

• Govt dismissed

• Fresh Elections, greater mandate

• “Coup” by Son-in-Law N. Chandrababu

Naidu

• Died in 1996

• Lakshmi Parvathy - Widow

Trinamool Congress

A quick look at some others

• Trinamool Congress

• Biju Janta Dal

• Janta Dal (Secular)

• Janta Dal (United)

• Asom Gana Parishad

• Shivsena

• Maharashtra Navnirman Sena

• Jharkhanda Mukti Morcha

• Rashtriya Janta Dal

• Lok Janashakti Party

• Samajwadi Party

• Indian National Lok Dal

• Shiromani Akali Dal

• People’s Democratic Party

• National Conference

Selected Bibilography

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India)

• http://www.india-

today.com/itoday/millennium/100people/narayan.html

• http://www.economist.com/node/146358

• http://www.economist.com/node/146272

• http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/headon/entry/gov

erning-our-governors

• http://swaminomics.org/?p=2007

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