50 members, up to 12 of which are appointed by the president, the
remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and
territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the
People's Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by popular
vote, 2 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)

elections: People's Assembly - last held 5 September through 3
October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)

election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote by party -
BJP alliance 40.8%, Congress alliance 33.8%, other 25.4%; seats by
party - BJP alliance 304, Congress alliance 134, other 107

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the
president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65)

Political parties and leaders: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam or AIADMK [C. Jayalalitha JAYARAM]; All India Forward Bloc
or AIFB [Prem Dutta PALIWAL (chairman), Chitta BASU (general
secretary)]; Asom Gana Parishad [Prafulla Kumar MAHANTA]; Bahujan
Samaj Party or BSP [Kanshi RAM]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP
[Bangaru LAXMAN, president]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen
PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu Bhushan
BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India/Marxist-Leninist or CPI/ML [Vinod
MISHRA]; Congress (I) Party [Sonia GANDHI, president]; Dravida
Munnetra Kazagham or DMK (a regional party in Tamil Nadu) [M.
KARUNANIDHI]; Indian National League [Suliaman SAIT]; Janata Dal
(Secular) [H. D. Deve GOWDA]; Janata Dal (United) or JDU [Sharad
YADAV, president, I. K. GUJRAL]; Kerala Congress (Mani faction) [K.
M. MANI]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKO];
Muslim League [G. M. BANATWALA]; Nationalist Congress Party or NCP
[Sharad PAWAR]; National Democratic Alliance, a 16-party alliance
including BJP, DMK, Janata Dal (U), SHS, Shiromani Akali Dal, Telugu
Desam, BJD, Rinamool Congress]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Laloo
Prasad YADAV]; Revolutionary Socialist Party or RSP [Tridip
CHOWDHURY]; Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV, president];
Shiromani Akali Dal [Prakash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena [Bal
THACKERAY]; Tamil Maanila Congress [G. K. MOOPANAR]; Telugu Desam
Party or TDP (a regional party in Andhra Pradesh) [Chandrababu
NAIDU]; Trinamool Congress [Mamata BANERJEE]

Political pressure groups and leaders: numerous religious or
militant/chauvinistic organizations, including Vishwa Hindu
Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; various