POLITICAL CHALLENGES

INDIA’S GOVERNMENT 1949: Indian leaders gathered to write a constitution Created a federal system consisting of a federal government and the governments of 25 states and 7 territories President of India appoints the state governors and has the power to dissolve state government in an emergency

PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY Power in the hands of the political party that wins the most seats in parliament Leader of that party is the prime minister Upper house (Council of State) chosen by state legislatures Lower house (House of the People) is more powerful and voters elect members directly

POLITICAL PARTIES More than a dozen representing different castes, languages, or religious groups Vote at age 18, use symbols because many voters can’t read and write

POLITICAL PARTIES Bharata Janata Party (BJP) Indian National Congress (INC) Bharata Janata Party (BJP) Congress party dominated for years because party that led them to independence. BJP leaders stressed Hindu traditions. Formed a coalition: several parties join together because party had a majority vote. Difficult because parties disagree, and BJP hurt by Hindu extremist actions against India’s Christians.

DIVIDING AND UNIFYING FORCES Growing population and high rates of poverty and illiteracy Efforts to help the lower castes have been met with much protest from the higher castes. Cultural diversity Sikh separatism: believe they don’t get a large enough share of government resources Hindu-Muslim clashes United by Hindu traditions, democratic traditions, modern communication, and strong leadership Indian Constitution declared untouchability illegal and set aside government jobs but still not accepted socially. Sikhs want to form a separate country. Northwestern Punjab state Sikhs form majority. Protests became violent in 1984 when Sikh extremists occupied the Golden Temple, a holy shrine, and refused to leave. Government attacked the temple and killed many Sikh.

INDIA’S LEADERS Nehru: India’s first prime minister after independence, wanted a secular nation (no official religion) 1966: His daughter Indira Gandhi became PM, was killed by her two Sikh bodyguards in 1984 because she stormed the Golden Temple Rajiv Gandhi, Indira’s son, was elected PM and was murdered in 1991 by Tamil guerrillas from Sri Lanka

MANMOHAN SINGH The first Sikh PM. Belongs to the INS party

FORMER AND CURRENT PRESIDENT Pratibha Devisingh Patil Pranab Mukherjee

The Rashtrapati Bhavan (New Delhi) Where the President of India resides