Last Viceroy:
Lord Louis
Francis
Albert Victor
Nicholas
Mountbatten
Border problems
India Split:
•India
(Hindu
Majority)
•East and
West
Pakistan
(Muslim
Majority
These two nations
would have a huge
influence on the
region from 1947
on…
Political Leaders of India
Since Independence
Jawarlal Nehru
 Ally of Gandhi.
 1st Prime Minister
of India,
1947-1964.
 Advocated Industrialization
vs. Gandhi’s rural emphasis
 Promoted increased
agriculture… Taken up by his
daughter, Indira (who was
best know for it)
 Mixed Economy  Socialism
coming up in a minute!
 Nonaligned Movement.
Nehru Leads India
• Jawaharlal Nehru
becomes the first
prime minister of
independent India
• Rules for 17 years;
pushes for economic
and social reforms
• Leads alliance of
countries that were
neutral in Cold War
NEHRU
•
•
•
•
FIVE YEAR PLANS
SOCIALIST ECONOMY
NEUTRAL IN COLD WAR
LEFT BRITISH-TRAINED CIVIL
SERVICE INTACT
• INDIA A “ONE-PARTY
DEMOCRACY” – Nehru was very
popular and respected
• Prime minister 1948-1966, when he
died
Non-Alignment
Movement
Indira
Gandhi
 Nehru’s daughter.
 Prime Minister of India,
1966-1984.
 Continues Nehru’s policies.
Especially the Green Revolution
 Faced internal rebellion from
the Sikh (a group that blends
Hinduism and Islam)
separatists.
 Control Population!
Indian National Congress
• Indira Gandhi
– created a top-down structure
– party leaders appoint party officials
– some limited party elections
• left-of-center, pro-poor political platform
A FAKE “EMERGENCY” – INDIA
REMAINS A DEMOCRACY
• INDIRA GANDHI TRIES TO GAIN
DICTATORIAL POWERS WHEN
SHE’S ACCUSED OF
CORRUPTION IN 1975
• JANATA DAL PARTY DEFEATS
CONGRESS IN ELECTIONS IN
1977, RESTORES FULL
DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL
RIGHTS – First time Congress
party is defeated.
• DESPITE ITS PROBLEMS, INDIA
REMAINS COMMITTED TO
POLITICAL DEMOCRACY
India’s persecution of the
Sikhs (a group that blends Hinduism and Islam)
Push for
Independence
Resentment follows partition of the Punjab
between Pakistan and India
.
Sikh nationalists demand their
.
own nation called Khalistan
1984: Sikh
seperatists take
over the Golden
Temple. The
Indian army
attacks the temple.
Over 600
die in the
attack.
Troubled Times
• Nehru’s daughter,
Indira Gandhi, rules
much of the time
from 1966-1984.
• She faces opposition
from Sikhs, and is
assassinated by
Sikh bodyguards.
Mrs. Gandhi
assassinated!
Mrs. Gandhi lying in state.
1984
INDIRA GANDHI
• NEHRU’S DAUGHTER
• NOT RELATED TO
MAHATMA GANDHI
• POPULAR BUT ECONOMY
DID POORLY IN 1970s
• P.M. 1966-1977, 1980-84.
ASSASSINATED BY A SIKH
BODYGUARD.
1985: Sikh
terrorists blow up
Air India plane
flying out of
Toronto, Canada,
killing 329.
Sikh nationalism
continues, but lacks
any force
Rajiv Gandhi
 Indira’s son.
 Prime Minister of India,
1984-1989.
 Some reform of economy
and government.
Privatization!
 Also faced rebellion.
 Assassinated in 1991 while
campaigning by Tamil
Tigers (a separatist
group).
RAJIV GANDHI
• INDIRA’S SON
• POPULAR
• INTERVENES IN SRI
LANKA CIVIL WAR
• P.M. FROM 1984 UNTIL
ASSASSINATED BY
TAMIL SEPARATISTS
IN 1991
A foreigner joins the
family
 Italian-born
Sonia Maino
married Rajiv
1968.
 She moved
into the house
of mother-inlaw, Prime
Minister
Indira Gandhi.
Mrs. Sonia Maino Gandhi
 1983  Indian
citizen.
 1984  first lady
when her husband,
Rajiv Gandhi,
succeeded his
assassinated
mother as Prime
Minister.
Troubled Times
• Her son Rajiv
Gandhi becomes
prime minister, but is
assassinated in
1991.
 1991  Tragedy struck the Gandhi
family again when Rajiv was killed by
a suicide bomber.
 Sonia Gandhi
remains Roman
Catholic, but
follows Hindu
and Indian
traditions.
 With her
children, she
scattered
Rajiv's ashes
in the Ganges.
MORE GANDHIS
• Indira’s other son,
Sanjay, died in a
plane crash in 1980.
• Rajiv’s widow,
Sonia, is Italianborn. She is
president of the
Congress party.
• Controversy about
whether she should
run for higher office.
 After Rajiv's death Sonia shied away from
the spotlight. In 1998, she agreed to start
her own career as a “Gandhi” again and
became an important political leader.
 Sonia's son Rahul and daughter Priyanka
have also become politically active.
“The Jewel turns down the
crown!”
 When her party
won in the
recent elections,
she was asked
to be Prime
Minister.
 She decided not
to accept the
position.
ECONOMIC REFORMS –
1991 – THE BIG CHANGE
• MANMOHAN SINGH
becomes finance
minister in 1991
• Engineers major
reforms to loosen up
government control of
the economy
• Economic takeoff in
past 17 years.
• Singh is currently Prime
Minister
• Member of Congress
Party
Manmohan Singh
 May 2004  he
held up a letter
from India's
president
authorizing him to
form a new
government as
prime minister.
 He stood next to
Sonia Gandhi, the
candidate for the
post who stunned
the country when she declined the office.
Current Prime Minister
• Manmohan Singh
• He is the first Indian Prime Minister since
Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after
completing a full five-year term.
• He is also the first Sikh to hold the post.
• Earlier, during his tenure as the Finance Minister
from 1991 to 1996, Singh was widely credited for
carrying out economic reforms in India in 1991
which resulted in the end of the infamous
Licence Raj system and the opening up of the
Indian economy.
May 2004
India Swears in 13th Prime Minister
and the first Sikh in the job.
Politics of India
Political Institutions & Parties
Republic of India
• A federal republic with a parliamentary
system of government
• capital: New Delhi
Political System
• A federal parliamentary multi-party representative
democratic republic modeled after the British
Westminster System.
• Like the United States, India has a federal form of
government, however, the central government in India
has greater power in relation to its states.
• At the federal level, India is the most populous
democracy in the world. While many neighboring
countries witness frequent coups, Indian democracy has
been suspended only once.
• Indian politics is often described as chaotic. More than a
fifth of parliament members face criminal charges.
A federal system
• 26 states and 6 centrally administered
Union Territories
– 2 states are partially claimed by Pakistan and
China
Federal system
• Relatively centralized
• federal government controls the most
essential government functions
– defense
– foreign policy
– taxation
– public expenditures
– economic (industrial) planning
Federal system
• state governments formally control
– agriculture
– education
– law and order within states
– dependent on central government for funds
Federal system
• Balance of power between central and
state governments
– varies by time and place
– state power was constrained
• during the rule of Nehru and Indira Gandhi
– state governments have more room to
maneuver
• when central government is weak
• since 1998
Parallel state structure
• Formal political structure of the states
parallels that of the national government
• national
state
• President
Governor
• Prime Minister
Chief Minister
• Parliament
Assembly
• Supreme Court High Court
The legislature
• Parliamentary system of government
– the executive authority is responsible to the
Parliament
The legislature
• bicameral Parliament
– Rajya Sabha (Council of States)
– Lok Sabha (House of the People)
Rajya Sabha (Council of States)
• The Upper House
Upper House
• Rajya Sabha (Council of States)
• not more than 250 members
– 12 are nominated by the President of India
– the rest are indirectly elected
• by state Legislative Assemblies
• The Council of States can not be dissolved
– members have terms of 6 years
– 1/3 members retire at end of every 2nd year
Lok Sabha
• House of the
People
Lower House
• Lok Sabha (House of the People)
• 545 members
– 2 are appointed by the President of India
– the rest are directly elected from singlemember districts
• 5-year terms unless dissolved
• Lok Sabha elects its presiding officer
– the Speaker
Lok Sabha
• Elections held at least every 5 years
• Prime Minister may call elections earlier
• 543 single-member districts of roughly
equal population
• party nomination
• 1st-past-the-post
– winner-take-all
• women’s share
Elections to Lok Sabha
• Vote share of 3 major political parties
Political Parties
•
•
•
•
Indian National Congress (INC)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Communist Party of India Marxism (CPIM)
And others…
Current composition
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
43 parties in the 13th Lok Sabha (1999)
39 parties in the 14th Lok Sabha (2004)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
184 138
Indian National Congress (INC) 109 145
Communist Party of India (M)
34 43
other political parties
218 217
total
545 543
Indian National Congress
• India’s oldest political party
– since 1885
• India’s premier political party
– until 1990s
• in 1960s many regional parties started
challenging INC’s monopoly on power
Indian National Congress
• INC moved toward the ideological center
– Beginning in 1984
• INC today tilts right-of-center
– economic efficiency
– business interests
– limited government spending
Indian National Congress
• INC has always attracted support from
diverse social groups
• in the 1990s INC has lost some of its
traditional constituencies among the poor
and Muslims
Indian National Congress (INC)
• INC was the leader of the Indian
Independence Movement.
• It is the nation's dominant political party,
ruling the country for 48 of the 60 years
since independence in 1947.
• led by the Nehru-Gandhi family for the
most part; major challenges for party
leadership have only recently formed.
Indian National Congress (INC)
• In the 2009 general elections, the
Congress emerged as the single largest
party in the Lok Sabha (the lower house),
with 206 of its candidates getting elected
to the 543-member house.
• Consequently, it along with a coalition of
allies called the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA), was able to gain a majority
and form the government.
INC Prime Ministers
• Jawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964)
• Gulzarilal Nanda (May - June 1964 and in
January 1966)
• Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964–1966)
• Indira Gandhi (1966–1977, 1980–1984)
• Rajiv Gandhi (1984–1989)
• P.V. Narasimha Rao (1991–1996)
• Manmohan Singh (2004 -)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• The major political party in India today
• right-leaning, Hindu-nationalist party
– first major party to mobilize explicitly on the
basis of religious identity
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• Indian People's Party (BJP) is a major political party in
India, founded in 1980.
• The party is associated with Hindu nationalism and
advocates conservative social policies, self-reliance, free
market economics, foreign policy driven by a nationalist
agenda, and strong national defence.
• The BJP, in alliance with several other parties, was in
power from 1998 to 2004, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as
the Prime Minister and Lal Krishna Advani as his deputy.
• It is the biggest constituent of the National Democratic
Alliance which is currently in the opposition.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• better organized than INC
– disciplined party members
– carefully selected party cadres
– clear and respected authority line within the
party
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• Traditional supporters
– urban, lower-middle-class groups
• base of support widened since mid-1980s
– Hindu nationalism
– north-central India
– decline of Indian National Congress
– Muslims as convenient scapegoat for
frustration
BJP’s rapid rise to power
• electoral success from 1989 to 1999
– difficulty in forming alliance with other parties
• break with past traditions
– relatively moderate, centrist position
• BJP formed governing coalition in 1998
– collapsed in 1999
• BJP formed a new coalition in 1999
– more broadly based than previous coalition
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• economic liberalization and stability
• privilege the interests of the Hindu majority
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
• It existed from 1951 to 1980, whereupon it was
succeeded by the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of
India's largest political parties.
• The BJS was considered the political arm of
Hindu Nationalism, with the RSS being the
central base. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad,
formed in 1964 would become the religious arm.
• The BJS also attracted many conservative
members of the Indian National Congress who
were disenchanted with the more socialist
policies and politics of Jawaharlal Nehru and the
Congress Party.
Communist Party of India Marxism
(CPIM)
• It has a strong presence in the states of
Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura.
• As of 2010, CPI(M) is leading the state
governments in these three states.
And Others…
Prime Minister
• Leader of the majority party leader in Lok
Sabha becomes the prime minister
• prime minister nominates a cabinet
– members of Parliament in the ruling coalition
– Council of Ministers
• effective power is concentrated in the
office of the prime minister
– where most of the important policies originate
Prime Ministers of India
• 38 years in the Nehru-Gandhi family
• more and more rapid turnover
The President of India
• Head of the State
• Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces
• elected by an electoral college
– national Parliament
– state legislature
• 5-year terms
• can be reelected
The President of India
• Ceremonial office
– symbolize national unity
– supposedly above partisan politics
• mostly acts on the advice of the prime
minister
• President plays a significant role when the
selection of a prime minister is complex
– in 1998 President requested BJP to form govt.
The Judiciary
• Fundamental contradiction in constitution
– principle of parliamentary sovereignty
– principle of judicial review
The Judiciary
• judiciary tries to preserve the constitution’s
basic structure
• to ensure that legislation conforms with the
intent of the constitution
• parliament tries to assert its right to amend
the constitution