4. Democracy in India

 

India follows the parliamentary form of democracy. The Indian Parliament comprises the elected representatives of the people and makes the laws for the country. The participation of people in the decision-making process and the consent of citizens are the two essential elements of the parliamentary form of government in India.

India follows universal adult suffrage i.e every person who is a citizen of India and is not less than \(18\) years of age can exercise their right to vote in India. There is no discrimination based on a person’s caste, creed, religion, region, gender and education when it comes to providing the right to vote.

  

 

India has a quasi-federal government, with elected representatives at the federal, state and local levels. The elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India. At the national level, the President of India appoints the Prime Minister, who enjoys the majority in the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India.

All members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected through general elections, which takes place once in every five years.

 

Members of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, is elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states and the Union Territories of India. The President of India nominates \(12\ \)members for their contributions to art, literature, science and social services.

  

  

 

General elections to the first Lok Sabha since independence were held in India between \(25th\ \)October \(1951\ \)and \(21st\ \)February \(1952\). The Indian National Congress emerged victorious by winning 364 of the 489 seats. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country.