Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary secular democratic republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. It is based on the federal structure of government, although the word is not used in the Constitution itself. India follows the dual polity system, i.e. federal in nature, that consists of the central authority at the centre and states at the periphery. The Constitution defines the organizational powers and limitations of both central and state governments; it is well recognised, fluid and considered supreme, i.e. the laws of the nation must conform to it.
Rahul Rajiv Gandhi is an Indian politician and a member of the Indian Parliament who represents the constituency of Wayanad, Kerala, in the Lok Sabha. He previously represented the constituency of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. He is a member of the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, and was the party president from December 2017 to July 2019. Gandhi is the chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress, the National Students Union of India and a trustee of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust. He is the son of the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.
Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician who has served as the 14th prime minister of India since May 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organisation. He is the longest-serving prime minister from outside the Indian National Congress.
James Michael Lyngdoh is an Indian civil servant and was Chief Election Commissioner of India from 14 June 2001 to 7 February 2004. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2003.
The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, is cited as having instigated the violence. Following the initial riot incidents, there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad for three months; statewide, there were further outbreaks of violence against the minority Muslim population of Gujarat for the next year.
Manoj Sinha is an Indian politician serving as the 2nd and the current Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He served as the Minister of State for Communications and Minister of State for Railways in the Government of India. Sinha was elected as Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, representing Ghazipur for three terms from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Sinha was in the race for the post of UP Chief Minister after 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election.
The Gulbarg Society massacre took place on 28 February 2002, during the 2002 Gujarat riots, when a crowd started stone pelting the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in the eastern part of Chamanpura, Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat. Most of the houses were burnt, and at least 35 victims, including a former Congress Member of Parliament, Ehsan Jafri, were burnt alive, while 31 others went missing after the incident, later presumed dead, bringing the total deaths to 69.
Arun Kumar Mishra is the eighth and current chairperson of National Human Rights Commission of India. He is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. He is the former chief justice of the Calcutta High Court and Rajasthan High Court. He has also served as acting chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court. He is a former judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Sanjiv Bhatt is a former Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat-cadre. He is known for his role in filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India against the then Chief Minister of the Government of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, concerning Modi's alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. He claimed to have attended a meeting, during which Modi allegedly asked top police officials to let Hindus vent their anger against the Muslims. However, the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India concluded that Bhatt did not attend any such meeting, and dismissed his allegations.
Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) is an apolitical and non-partisan nonprofit organisation in India, working on electoral and political reforms for over 25 years.
Ranjan Gogoi is an Indian former advocate and judge who served as the 46th Chief Justice of India from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India from 2012 to 2018. He is currently a Member of the Rajya Sabha, having been nominated by President Ram Nath Kovind on 16 March 2020. Gogoi served as a judge in the Gauhati High Court from 2001 to 2010, and then was transferred as a judge to the Punjab and Haryana High Court from 2010 to 2011 where he later was the Chief Justice from 2011 to 2012. He is also a member of the Committee on External Affairs in the Rajya Sabha.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) is an Indian bar association, comprising the practising lawyers of the Supreme Court of India. Adish Aggarwala is the current president of the association, Pradeep Rai(Senior Advocate) is the Vice-president and Rohit Pandey(Advocate) is the Honorary Secretary.
Droupadi Murmu is an Indian politician and former teacher who is serving as the 15th and current President of India since 2022. She won the 2022 presidential election as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She is the first person belonging to the tribal community and also the second woman after Pratibha Patil to hold the office. She is also the youngest person to occupy the post and the first President born in an independent India.
Girish Chandra Murmu is the 14th Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the external auditor of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He is also the chairman of the United Nations Panel of External Auditors and the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. He is currently the external auditor of the WHO (2020-2023), succeeding the Auditor General of the Philippines. He was the Inaugural Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir till 6 August 2020. He is a retired 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre and was principal secretary to Narendra Modi during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
General elections will be held in India from 19 April 2024 to 1 June 2024 to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The elections will be held in seven phases and the results will be announced on 4 June 2024. This will be the largest-ever election in the history, surpassing the 2019 Indian general election, and will last 44 days, second only to the 1951–52 Indian general election. The incumbent prime minister Narendra Modi, who completed a second term, is contesting for a third consecutive term.
Jagdeep Dhankhar is an Indian politician and lawyer, serving as the current Vice President of India since 2022. He previously served as the Governor of West Bengal from 2019 to 2022. He also served as a Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the Chandra Shekhar ministry from 1990 to 1991. He was a member of Lok Sabha from 1989 to 1991 and later a Member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from 1993 to 1998. He has also been affiliated with multiple political parties in India, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress and Janata Dal.
The Rafale deal controversy is a political controversy in India related to the purchase of 36 Rafale multirole fighter aircraft for a price estimated at €7.87 billion by the Defence Ministry of India from France's Dassault Aviation. The origin of the deal lies in the Indian MMRCA competition, a multi-billion dollar contract to supply 126 multi-role combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) with a transfer of technology.
The One Hundred and Third Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as the Constitution Act, 2019, introduces 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of society for admission to Central Government-run educational institutions and private educational institutions, and for employment in Central Government jobs. The Amendment does not make such reservations mandatory in State Government-run educational institutions or State Government jobs. However, some states have chosen to implement the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections.
The International Council of Jurists (ICJ) is a company based in London, England that organizes seminars and conferences in London and India, and gives out awards. It charges fees for membership, conference sponsorship and advertising. In April 2020 its president, Adish Aggarwala, launched a conspiracy theory in which he claimed the Chinese had deliberately launched the COVID-19 pandemic to further its ambitions to become a superpower. The Indian government disowned any connection with the ICJ and its views, but the story created a sensation in the Indian press.
Electoral Bonds were a mode of funding for political parties in India from their introduction in 2017 till they were struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on 15 February 2024. Following their termination, a five-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice directed the State Bank of India to hand over the identities and other details of donors and recipients to the Election Commission of India, which was in turn asked to publish them on its website.
