ower house or People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Ramaswamy Iyer VENKATARAMAN (since 25 July 1987); Vice President
Dr. Shankar Dayal SHARMA (since 3 September 1987)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha RAO (since 21 June 1991)
Political parties and leaders:
Congress (I) Party, P. V. Narasimha RAO, president; Bharatiya Janata Party,
L. K. ADVANI; Janata Dal Party, V. P. SINGH; Communist Party of
India/Marxist (CPI/M), Harkishan Singh SURJEET; Communist Party of India
(CPI), C. Rajeswara RAO; Telugu Desam (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh),
N. T. Rama RAO; All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK; a regional
party in Tamil Nadu), JAYALALITHA; Samajwadi Janata Party, CHANDRA SHEKHAR;
Shiv Sena, Bal THACKERAY; Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Tridip
CHOWDHURY; Bahujana Samaj Party (BSP), Kanshi RAM; Congress (S) Party,
leader NA; Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist (CPI/ML), Satyanarayan
SINGH; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (a regional party in Tamil Nadu), M.
KARUNANIDHI; Akali Dal factions representing Sikh religious community in the
Punjab; National Conference (NC; a regional party in Jammu and Kashmir),
Farooq ABDULLAH; Asom Gana Parishad (a regional party in Assam), Prafulla
MAHANTA
Suffrage:
universal at age 18

:India Government

Elections:
People's Assembly:
last held 21 May, 12 and 15 June 1991 (next to be held by November 1996);
results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (545 total), 520 elected -
Congress (I) Party 231, Bharatiya Janata Party 119, Janata Dal Party 59,
CPI/M 35, CPI 14, Telugu Desam 13, AIADMK 11, Samajwadi Janata Party 5, Shiv
Sena 4, RSP 4, BSP 1, Congress (S) Party 1, other 23; note - second and
third rounds of voting were delayed because of the assassination of Congress
President Rajiv GANDHI on 21 May 1991
Communists:
466,000 members claimed by CPI, 361,000 members claimed by CPI/M; Communist
extremist groups, about 15,000 members
Other political or pressure groups:
various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy;
numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Adam
Sena, Ananda Marg, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Member of:
AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-6, G-15, G