India Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Republic of India

Type, federal republic

Capital: New Delhi

Political subdivisions: 22 states, 9 union territories

Legal system: based on English common law; constitution adopted 1950; limited judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Republic Day, 26 January

Branches: bicameral parliament—Council of States, House of the People; relatively independent judiciary

Government leader. Rajiv GANDHI, Prime Minister (since October 1984); Zail SINGH, President (since July 1982)

Suffrage: universal over age 21

Flections: national and state elections ordinarily held every five years; may be postponed in emergency and may be held more frequently if government loses confidence

vote; last general election in December 1984; state elections staggered

Political parties and leaders: Indian National Congress, controlled national government from independence to March 1977; split in January 1978 and 1979; party currently headed by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi; the Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Party (DMKP), formed in late 1984 by (Charan Singh of the Lok Dal Party, also absorbed the Democratic Socialist Party, a breakaway faction of the Janata Party, and Sharad Pawar’s Congress (S) Party; Janata Party led by Chandra Shekhar; Bharatiya Janata Party, L. K. Advani, Communist Party of India (CPI), C. Rajeswara Rao; Communist Party of India/Marxist (CPI /Μ), E. M. S. Namboodiripad; Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Satyanarayan Singh All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (A1ADMK), a regional party in Tamil Nadu, led by M. G. Ramachandran; Akali Dal, led by Surjit Singh Barnala, representing Sikh religious community in the Puniab· Telugu Desam, a regional party in Andhra Pradesh led by N. T. Rama Rao; National Sanjay Front (SVM), led by Maneka Gandhi; National Conference (NC), a regional party in Jammu and Kashmir, split into factions ted by Farooq Abdullah and G. M. Shah

Voting strength: India Congress, 74%, Telugu Desam Party, 5%; CPM, 4%; Janata, 1.8%; CPI, 1.1 %; DMKP, 0.5%; BJP, 0.4%; other, 6.6%; 34 seats vacant as of January 1985

Communists: 466,000 members claimed by CPI, 270,000 members claimed by CPI/M; Communist extremist groups, about 15,000 members

Other political or pressure groups: various separatist groups seeking reorganization of states; numerous “sena'" or militant/chauvi-nistic organizations, including Shiv Sena (in Bombay), Anand Marg, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Member of: ADB, AIOEC, ANRPC, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO,

ICO, IDA IFAD IFO IHO, 1L0, international Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, NAM, SA ARC, UN, UNESCO. UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

NOTE: The information regarding India on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of India 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about India 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.