India: Encyclopedia II - India - Politics

India - Politics

For most of its independent history, India has been ruled by the Indian National Congress Party (INC). Following its position as the largest political organisation in pre-independence India, the INC, usually led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, dominated national politics for over four decades. In 1975, the government led by Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency Rule across the nation. After emergency was lifted in 1977, and fresh elections were called, a united opposition, under the banner of the Janata Party won the elections and formed a non-Congress government for a short period. In 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a political party with a right-wing nationalist ideology, became the largest single party, and established, for the first time, a serious opposition to the largely centre-left Congress. But power was de facto held by two successive coalition governments, with the active support of the Congress. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) along with smaller regional parties, and became the first non-Congress government to sustain a full five-year tenure (1999 to 2004). The decade prior to 1999 was marked by a state of political flux, with seven separate governments formed within that period.

In the 2004 Indian elections the INC returned to power after winning the largest number of seats. It formed a government in alliance with several regional parties, known as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), with the outside support of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). The NDA, led by the BJP, currently forms the main opposition. All governments since 1996 have required party coalitions, with no single party claiming a majority, due to the steady rise of regional parties at the national level.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Politics", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki