India’s Domestic Political Setting

India’s Domestic Political Setting

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Updated June 13, 2024
India’s Domestic Political Setting
Overview
Alliance, or “INDIA,” won 234 Lok Sabha seats, or 43% of
India, the world’s most populous country, is, according to
the chamber, and Rahul Gandhi was elected Leader of the
its Constitution, a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic
Opposition. The Lok Sabha’s third-largest party, the
republic” where the bulk of executive power rests with the
Samajwadi Party, won 37 seats in its base in India’s most
prime minister and his Council of Ministers. The Indian
populous state, Uttar Pradesh, illuminating the BJP’s
president is a ceremonial chief of state with limited
setbacks in the “Hindi belt.”
executive powers. Since its 1947 independence, most of
India’s 14 prime ministers have come from the country’s
The BJP and Congress are, in practice, India’s only
Hindi-speaking northern regions, and all but 3 have been
genuinely national parties. In the 2024 election they
upper-caste Hindus. The 543-seat Lok Sabha (House of
together won more than half of all votes cast nationally, as
the People) is the locus of national power, with directly
in 2019, with the BJP’s share steady at 37% of the
elected representatives from each of the country’s 28 states
estimated 640 million votes cast (to Congress’s 21%;
and 8 union territories. A smaller upper house of a
turnout was again about 67%). The influence of regional
maximum 250 seats, the Rajya Sabha (Council of States),
and caste-based (often “family-run”) parties—dormant after
may review, but not veto, revenue legislation, and has no
two consecutive BJP majority victories—returned in 2024
powers over the prime minister or cabinet. Lok Sabha and
as a crucial variable in Indian politics. Such parties hold
state legislators are elected to five-year terms. Rajya Sabha
roughly one-third of all Lok Sabha seats. In 2024, more
members are elected by state assemblies to six-year terms;
than 8,300 candidates and 744 parties vied for Lok Sabha
12 are appointed by the president.
seats; 41 of those parties took at least one seat. The seven
India’s
parties listed below account for 84% of Lok Sabha seats.
most recent national election to seat the country’s
The NDA’s economic reform agenda can be impeded in the
18th Lok Sabha was held in spring 2024. The incumbent
Rajya Sabha, where opposition parties can align to block
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, or “Indian Peoples Party”)
certain nonrevenue legislation (see Figure 1).
won a plurality victory of 240 seats under its leader, Prime
Minister (PM) Narendra Modi. Hundreds of millions across
Figure 1. Party Positions in India’s 18th Lok Sabha
the country voted to keep the popular prime minister in
power for a third term, but the BJP’s failure to secure a
majority was widely viewed as a surprise setback for Modi
and the party. The 73-year-old Modi, a self-avowed Hindu
nationalist, for the first time in his political career will
oversee a coalition government: the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) currently holds 293 seats, or 54% of the
chamber. (See CRS In Focus IF12686, India’s 2024
National Election.)
Many analysts described the campaign run by Modi and the

BJP as divisive. While he and his party have long sought to
Source: Election Commission of India; Rajya Sabha website.
emphasize economic development and good governance,
their record over 10 years in office is a mixed one. The
Key Government Officials
government has invested in infrastructure upgrades, and
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was chief minister (CM) of
generally strong economic growth has lifted many millions
the economically dynamic and relatively developed western
lifted out of poverty. Yet India continues to suffer from
state of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 before becoming India’s
growing inequality, and high rates of unemployment and
first-ever lower-caste prime minister. He is a lifelong
inflation. Observers also express concerns that Hindu
member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS or
religious majoritarianism threatens the status and rights of
“National Volunteer Organization”; see below).
India’s minority communities.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who took the defense
The Indian National Congress (INC or “Congress Party”) of
portfolio in 2019, was home minister from 2014 to 2019,
India’s first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, dominated India’s
BJP president during the 2014 campaign, and has served as
politics for the first 50 years of independence, but suffered
chief minister of Uttar Pradesh as well as in the cabinet of
two consecutive national-level routs in 2014 and 2019.
the BJP-led government from 1999 to 2004.
Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, and her son, Rajiv, also
served as prime minister; both were assassinated in office.
Home Minister Amit Shah, a top Modi lieutenant from
The party, now fronted by Rajiv’s son, Rahul, resurged in
Gujarat and also a longtime RSS member, took his portfolio
2024, nearly doubling its seat count to 99. The INC-led
in 2019 and, in 2021, became the country’s first Minister of
opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive
Cooperation. He was BJP party president for 2014-2020.
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India’s Domestic Political Setting
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s first-ever
Chandrababu Naidu, who was in 2024 named leader of the
female finance minister, is also Minister for Corporate
NDA coalition. The party won 16 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.
Affairs. The Tamil Nadu native was the BJP’s national
Janata Dal (United) (JDU), a secularist, social democratic
spokeswoman before serving as India’s first female defense
party from Bihar, is led by state Chief Minister Nitish
minister from 2017 to 2019.
Kumar, who aligned with the BJP until 2022, became a
External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was
founding member of the INDIA alliance, then rejoined the
foreign secretary from 2015 to 2018 and has served as
NDA in early 2024. The JDU later won 12 Lok Sabha seats.
India’s Ambassador to both the United States and China.
Others: The Uttar Pradesh-based Bahujan Samaj Party of
He became India’s first-ever career diplomat to hold the
Mayawati—herself a four-time former chief minister—
MEA portfolio after joining the BJP in 2019.
garnered over 15 million votes, but failed to win any of the
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, a former
79 seats it contested. In Tamil Nadu, the regional All India
investment banker and BJP stalwart from Maharashtra, has
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, an erstwhile BJP ally,
also led the consumer affairs ministry since 2020, and
received more than 20% of the state’s votes, but won none
added the textiles ministry portfolio in 2021.
of its 38 Lok Sabha seats. The relatively young Aam Aadmi
Party of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal contested
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who took the post in
more seats in northern India than in previous elections, but
2014, is a former police officer and intelligence officer
was swept 7-0 by the BJP in the National Capital Territory;
from Kerala who served as Director of the Intelligence
the party won three Lok Sabha seats from Punjab in 2024.
Bureau after a decade running its operations wing.
President Droupadi Murmu, a former governor of
Federal System and State Elections
Jharkhand, is the second woman and first member of a
The Indian Constitution divides legislative powers into a
tribal community to hold the office.
Union List, a State List, and a Concurrent List. Although
India’s union government is granted more powers than in
Leading Parties
most other federal systems (including that of the United
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) arose in 1980 as the
States), the State List provides state assemblies and their
political wing of the RSS, a militant Hindu nationalist and
chief ministers with exclusive powers over 66 “items,”
social service group itself founded in 1925 and progenitor
including public order, law enforcement, health care, and
of dozens of affiliated organizations (the “Sangh Parivar”).
power, communication, and transportation networks.
The BJP advocates Hindu nationalism (“Hindutva”) and is
Just under half of Indians live in five states: Uttar Pradesh,
right-leaning on social policy with a generally more pro-
Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh.
business outlook than others, although it is also home to
“swadeshi” (self
Three of these have BJP chief ministers. In 2021 state
-sufficiency) sentiments. The party
elections in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s AITC
emerged as the only national-level competitor for the Indian
survived a historic BJP surge to win reelection as the state
National Congress after 1998. The NDA-leading BJP won
assembly’s majority party. Uttar Pradesh, considered an
240 Lok Sabha seats with 37% of the popular vote in 2024.
electoral bellwether with more than 230 million citizens,
Indian National Congress (INC or Congress Party) is
held elections in 2022. These brought a repeat win for the
generally regarded as a populist, center-left party, although
BJP under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Hindutva
an INC-led government presided over significant economic
firebrand and potential future prime ministerial candidate.
liberalization in the early 1990s. Rajiv Gandhi’s widow,
In 2023, Congress ousted an incumbent BJP government in
Sonia, is a top-ranking INC strategist, and their son, Rahul,
Karnataka, in India’s relatively prosperous south. However,
served as party president from 2017 to 2022; he will
later that year, state elections saw the BJP expand its
formally lead the Lok Sabha opposition in 2024. The
majority in Madhya Pradesh while displacing Congress
INDIA coalition-leading INC won 99 Lok Sabha seats with
Party governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In 2024,
21% of the 2024 vote.
BJP-ally TDP dominated Andhra Pradesh’s state assembly
election to unseat a nonaligned party, and the BJP ended the
Samajwadi Party (SP) of Uttar Pradesh is secular and
24-year-long rule of another nonaligned party in Odisha.
socialist, led by Akhilesh Yadav, a former state CM and son
of a former defense minister. Traditionally popular among
The nationally ruling BJP is now in power in 13 Indian
lower-caste and Muslim communities, the INDIA member
states, with NDA-allied chief ministers seated in another 5.
won 37 Lok Sabha seats with 4.6% of the 2024 vote.
The Congress Party controls three state governments; its
INDIA allies lead six others. Just one state (tiny Mizoram)
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), a professedly
is run by a party independent of either national coalition.
secular party that broke away from the INC in 1998, wins
Steadily broadening its state assembly presence in recent
its support in West Bengal, where party leader Mamata
years—which directly translates to increased presence in
Banerjee is also chief minister. An INDIA member, the
the Rajya Sabha—the BJP now accounts for more than one-
party won 29 Lok Sabha seats with 4.4% of the 2024 vote.
third of the country’s state legislators, as compared to under
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is a Tamil Nadu-
one-fifth for the relatively diminished Congress.
based party led by former Chennai mayor M.K. Stalin.
Social democratic with a mostly ethnic Tamil constituency,
K. Alan Kronstadt, Specialist in South Asian Affairs
the INDIA member won 22 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.
IF10298
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is an Andhra Pradesh-based,
ethnic Telugu party led by state Chief Minister N.
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India’s Domestic Political Setting

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