Page 112 - DMGT401Business Environment

Unit 4: Political Environment

4.3.1 Political System Notes

India is a federal state with its Central Government in New Delhi which is the capital of the
country. India comprises 29 State Governments and 6 Union Territories.
The Constitution provides for trifurcation of responsibilities between the Executive, the
Legislature and the Judiciary. The executive comprises the President, the Vice-President and the
Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. All executive powers are vested in the
President, who acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister is the leader of
the majority party in the Parliament and heads the Council of Ministers.

4.3.2 Political Institutions

The Union Legislature (Parliament) comprises two houses–the Lok Sabha (lower house, elected
directly by the people of India) and the Rajya Sabha (upper house, elected by the state legislatures
which in turn, are elected directly by the people). The Parliament is responsible for enacting
laws in India.
A similar structure exists in the states, where the head of the Executive is the Governor, who is
appointed by the President of India. The Council of Ministers is headed by the Chief Minister
and is responsible to the State Legislature (Legislative Assembly). The people of each state elect
the Legislative Assembly, which performs functions similar to those performed by the Parliament.
The Constitution of India has clearly demarcated the powers of the Centre and the States in the
form of three lists–the Union, State and Concurrent lists. The Union and State Governments pass
legislation on subjects under the Union and State lists, respectively. However, for subjects on the
Concurrent list where both Centre and the States can enforce laws, the decision-making powers
of the Centre supersede those of the states.
India is a secular country with no official religion. The Constitution guarantees fundamental
rights to the people, including freedom of speech, occupation and religion. India has a well-
developed independent judicial system. The Supreme Court is the apex judicial authority. Apart
from the Supreme Court, the Indian judicial system has High Courts in every state, and lower
courts at the town levels.

4.3.3 Prominent Political Parties of India

List of recognised political parties of India is given as under:
1. National parties
1. Indian National Congress - (INC, led by Sonia Gandhi)
2. Bharatiya Janata Party - ("Indian People's Party", BJP, led by Rajnath Singh)
3. Bahujan Samaj Party - ("Majoritarian Society Party", BSP, led by Mayawati)

4. Nationalist Congress Party - (NCP, led by Sharad Pawar)
5. Communist Party of India (Marxist) - [CPI (M), led by Prakash Karat]
6. Communist Party of India - (CPI, led by Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan)
7. Rashtriya Janata Dal - (RJD, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav)
2. State parties: Parties that have received certain amount of votes or seats in a state might
be recognized as a state party by the Election Commission. Recognition as a state party
given the party the possibility to reserve a particular election symbol in the concerned
state. A party might be recognized in more than one state. A party recognized in four

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