Indian Polity and Government

Indian polity is a vast discipline which includes the Indian constitution, its role in India’s governance, the role of prime minister, executive role, the role of judiciary, structure of parliament, voting and election procedure etc. Indian polity is an essential discipline for all aspirants preparing for different government service examinations. Apart from that, this discipline is an integral part of social science that makes citizens aware of their rights and democratic participation and governance. 

Indian polity 

Democracy- Indian democracy is parliamentary in nature, and its democracy is essentially an elected one. The parliament is divided in two houses and the structure of the Indian parliament resembles the structure of the English parliament. The parliament in India is divided in two houses, the lower house of the parliament is known as the Lok Sabha and the higher house of the parliament is also known as the Rajya Sabha. The executive head of the county is the prime minister and the constitutional head of the country is the president. 

Voting procedure- As India has a parliamentary democracy every adult citizen has the right to cast a vote. Every Indian citizen can cast a vote to elect members of the legislative assembly, members of the parliament and members of the municipal corporation or Gram Panchayat. Indian democracy puts emphasis on self determination even at the local level. The political party that has the majority of the MPs forms government in the centre. If one party doesn’t have the absolute majority it can form alliances with parties which share a common ideology or goal, to form the central government. 

India is a union of states and union territories. In the case of the state legislative assembly election is conducted every 5 years. The party or alliance that acquires a majority chooses their leader as the chief minister of the state. This election is commonly known as Bidhan Sabha election. Union territories are governed by a person appointed by the president of India. The governor looks after the law-and-order situation of the state on the behalf of the president. If one elected government can’t manage the law-and-order situation, the governor can request the president to declare an emergency situation in the state. In this case the state has to conduct election within 6 months. The tenure of the MPs of Lok Sabha is 5 years and the tenure of MP’s of Rajya Sabha is 6 years. The MP’s of Rajya Sabha are nominated by the parties and the president himself.

Citizens’ fundamental rights: The Indian constitution guarantees six fundamental rights to its citizens: The rights include the rights of freedom, expression, thought, protest against exploitation etc. Though initially, the right to property (article 31) was also included in the list of fundamental rights but later it was amended.

Indian Governance

The Indian government, which is an elected body and is often known as the central government or union government of India, is responsible for the governance of the country. The government is structured on the basis of the constitution of India and it works as an executive authority. The seat of the government of India (commonly referred to as the centre) is located in New Delhi, India. The government is headed by the prime minister of India. The government is mainly composed of three bodies, the executive body, the judiciary body and the legislative body. In these three bodies all powers are vested in the prime minister, president and supreme court by the constitution of India. The parliament of India is bicameral in nature. The lower house of the parliament is also known as the Lok Sabha and the members of Lok Sabha are elected directly by the citizens of India. The upper house of the parliament is known as Rajya Sabha and the members of this house are nominated by the members of parliament and president himself. The judiciary system of India consists of an apex body, more commonly known as the supreme court of India, 25 high courts and several district courts spread across the country.

Conclusion

Indian polity is a vast and complex discipline as the Indian constitution is influenced by constitutions of several other countries such as the United Kingdom, the US, Ireland, Australia etc. Indian governance is vastly influenced by its constitution and parliamentary structure. So, the aspirants should learn these concepts with great care.