nister I.K. GUJRAL (since 21 April 1997)
cabinet : Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister
elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of
elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of
the states for a five-year term; vice president elected by both houses
of Parliament; prime minister elected by parliamentary members of the
majority party following legislative elections
election results: Shankar Dayal SHARMA elected president; percent of
electoral college vote - NA; Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN elected vice
president; percent of Parliament vote - NA; I.K. GUJRAL elected prime
minister; percent of vote - NA

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the
Council of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than
250 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; members serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 27 April through May 1996
(next to be held NA 2001)
election results : People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - BJP and allies 194, Congress I Party 140, Janata Dal
Party 44, CPI/M 32, Tamil Maanila Congress 20, Dravida Munnetra
Kazagham 17, SP 17, Teluga Desam (Naidu) 16, CPI 11, RSP 5, Asom Gana
Parishad 5, Congress (Tiwari) 4, AIFB 3, Muslim League 2, Madhya
Pradesh Vikas Congress 2, Karnataka Congress Party 1, independents and
other regional parties 30

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the president

Political parties and leaders: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), A. B.
VAJPAYEE; Congress (I) Party, Sitaram KESRI, president; Janata Dal
Party, Laloo Prasad YADAV; Janata Dal (Ajit), Ajit SINGH; Communist
Party of India/Marxist (CPI/M), Harkishan Singh SURJEET; Tamil Maanila
Congress, G. K. MOOPANAR; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (a regional party
in Tamil Nadu), M. KARUNANIDHI; Samajwadi Party (SP), Mulayam Singh
YADAV (president), Om Prakash CHAUTALA, Devi LAL; Telugu Desam (Naidu)
(a regional party in Andhra Pradesh), Chandrababu NAIDU; Communist
Party of India (CPI), Indrajit GUPTA; Revolutionary Socialist Party
(RSP), Tridip CHOWDHURY; Asom Gana Parishad, Prafulla Kumar MAHANTA;
Congress (Tiwari), Arjun