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. India is officially declared a secular and socialist state as per the Constitution.
India has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the union government and the states. India's democracy is the largest democracy in the world.
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district (constituency) to the legislature of State government in the Indian system of government. From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Each state has between seven and nine MLAs for every Member of Parliament (MP) that it has in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's bicameral parliament. There are also members in three unicameral legislatures in Union Territories: the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can work as a minister for more than 6 months. If a non-Member of the Legislative Assembly becomes a Chief Minister or a minister, he must become an MLA within 6 months to continue in the job. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can become the Speaker of the Legislature
Elections in Kerala are regularly held to appoint government officials at various levels, both within the state of Kerala and in India as a whole. These elections encompass national elections as well as regional elections for local bodies and panchayats.
In India, a number of political positions and university posts are held for specific groups of the population, including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and women in some cases.
Subburaman Thirunavukkarasar is an Indian politician. He was the State President of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee till 2 February 2019 and former secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) of the Indian National Congress (INC) party. His introduction to politics in 1977 was facilitated by former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. G. Ramachandran. Ramachandran founded the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in 1972 and was facing his first elections for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election in 1977. He identified Thirunavukkarasar, a lawyer by profession, to contest the Aranthangi assembly constituency. Thirunavukkarasar won the seat, aged 27, and was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He continued in that capacity till 1980. Subsequently, he served as Tamil Nadu state minister from 1980 to 1987 in the MGR cabinet, holding portfolios that included Industries, Housing Board, Excise and Handlooms. Later, he became a member of the Lok Sabha – the lower house of the Parliament of India – when he won the erstwhile Pudukottai Lok Sabha constituency. He served as Union Minister of state for shipping and later for telecommunications and information technology.
Pasumpon Tha Krishnan was an Indian politician.
Paramarthalinga Thanulinga Nadar, also known simply as Thanulingam, was an Indian politician, Tamil Nadu Ellai Poratta Thyagi, and a staunch member of the now defunct Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress and would later emerge as a right-wing activist in the State. He served as a Member of Parliament with the Indian National Congress. In his later life, he served as the State President of the Hindu Munnani and played an active role in furthering Hindutva in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu in the 1980s.
S. R. Balasubramaniam is an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as an Indian National Congress candidate from Pongalur constituency in 1989 and 1991 elections. After being an MLA he was elected as the central minister. He was also an elected member of the Parliament in Lok Sabha from Nilgiris constituency from 1996 to 1998. Currently he is a member of ADMK. He is the current Member of Parliament in Rajyasabha on behalf of AIADMK.
Dr K. P. Ramalingam is an Indian politician and elected as member of parliament candidate in June, 2010 for Rajya Sabha. He is also a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate from Rasipuram constituency in 1980 and 1984 elections.
C. Ve. Shanmugam is an Indian politician and currently he is a Member of Parliament from Tamil Nadu. He is a four time MLA and senior Minister from AIADMK party in Tamilnadu. He was a former member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Villupuram constituency. As a cadre of Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, he was previously elected to the Tindivanam constituency in 2001 and 2006 elections. He also served as the state's Minister of Education, Law and Commercial Taxes from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2013 under the leadership of the Chief Minister Jayalalitha. His father was a previous member of the parliament for the Vandhavasi constituency.
Elections in the state of Bihar, India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Bihar creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India.
K. Gopal is an Indian doctor and politician. He obtained a M.B.B.S degree from Thanjavur Medical College. Gopal was a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Nannilam 1991 to 1996. In 2014 he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Nagapattinam as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate in the 2014 election. He won the seat with 46.06% and was elected Member of Parliament for Nagapattinam for 16th Lok Sabha.
A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha is the representative of the Indian states to one of the two houses of the Parliament of India. Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by the electoral college of the elected members of the State Assembly with a system of proportional representation by a single transferable vote. The Parliament of India is bicameral with two houses; Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. Compared to the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha has fewer members and its members have more restricted power. Unlike the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and cannot be dissolved at any time. However every second year, one third of the members are retired and the vacancies are filled by fresh elections and Presidential nomination at the beginning of every third year.
Elections in the Republic of India in 2018 included by-elections to the Lok Sabha, elections to the Rajya Sabha, elections to of eight states and numerous other by-elections to state legislative assemblies, councils and local bodies.
Telangana has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the state government and the districts.
Elections in the Indian union territory of Puducherry are conducted every five years to elect members to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly and members of parliament to the Lok Sabha. There are 30 assembly constituencies and 1 Lok Sabha constituency. The union territory has conducted 14 assembly elections and 15 Lok Sabha elections since independence.
