India

=== Government ===
{{Main|Government of India|Constitution of India}}
{{multiple image|perrow=1|total_width=220|image_style = border:none;| align = left |image1=Rashtrapati Bhavan Wide New Delhi India.jpg|caption1=[[Rashtrapati Bhavan]], the official residence of the [[President of India]], was designed by British architects [[Edwin Lutyens]] and [[Herbert Baker]] for the [[Viceroy of India]], and constructed between 1911 and 1931 during the [[British Raj]].<ref name="Bremner2016">{{Citation |last=Bremner |first=G. A. |title=Architecture and Urbanism in the British Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjRADQAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |page=117 |year=2016 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-102232-6}}</ref>}}
India is a [[federation]] with a [[parliamentary system]] governed under the Constitution of India—the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic.

[[Federalism in India]] defines the power distribution between the union and the [[States and territories of India|states]]. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950,{{sfn|Pylee|2003a|p = 4}} originally stated India to be a "[[Sovereignty|sovereign]], [[liberal democracy|democratic]] [[republic]];" this characterisation was amended in 1971 to "a sovereign, [[socialist]], [[Secularism|secular]], democratic republic".{{sfn|Dutt|1998|p = 421}} India's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states,{{sfn|Wheare|1980|p = 28}} has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes.{{sfn|Echeverri-Gent|2002|pp = 19–20}}{{sfn|Sinha|2004|p = 25}}
{{Infobox place symbols
| region_type = National
| region      = India
| title       = [[National symbols of India|National symbols]]{{sfn|National Informatics Centre|2005}}
| emblem      = [[State Emblem of India|Sarnath Lion Capital]]
| anthem      = ''[[Jana Gana Mana]]''
| song="[[Vande Mataram]]"
| language    = None<ref name="Times News Network">{{Cite news |last=Khan |first=Saeed |date=25 January 2010 |title=There's no national language in India: Gujarat High Court |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms |access-date=5 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318040319/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms |archive-date=18 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="NoneNtl">{{Cite news |date=16 November 2009 |title=Learning with the Times: India doesn't have any 'national language' |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Learning-with-the-Times-India-doesnt-have-any-national-language/articleshow/5234047.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010085454/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Learning-with-the-Times-India-doesnt-have-any-national-language/articleshow/5234047.cms |archive-date=10 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="Press Trust of India">{{Cite news |date=25 January 2010 |title=Hindi, not a national language: Court |work=[[Press Trust of India]] via [[The Hindu]] |location=Ahmedabad |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hindi-not-a-national-language-court/article94695.ece |access-date=23 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704084339/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hindi-not-a-national-language-court/article94695.ece |archive-date=4 July 2014}}</ref>
| currency    = [[Indian rupee sign|₹]] ([[Indian rupee]])
| calendar    = [[Indian national calendar|Shaka]]
| mammal      = {{ubl|[[Bengal tiger]]|[[South Asian river dolphin|River dolphin]]}}
| bird        = [[Indian peafowl]]
| flower      = [[Nelumbo nucifera|Lotus]]
| fruit       = [[Mango]]
| tree        = [[Banyan]]
| river       = [[Ganges]]
}}

The Government of India comprises three branches:<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Constitution of India |url=https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/COI-updated-as-31072018.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416044642/https://www.legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/COI-updated-as-31072018.pdf |archive-date=16 April 2019 |access-date=16 July 2016 |website=legislature.gov.in}}</ref>
* [[Executive (government)|Executive]]: The [[President of India]] is the ceremonial [[head of state]],{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 31}} who is elected indirectly for a five-year term by an [[Electoral College (India)|electoral college]] comprising members of national and state legislatures.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 138}}{{sfn|Gledhill|1970|p = 112}} The [[Prime Minister of India]] is the [[head of government]] and exercises most [[executive (government)|executive power]].{{sfn|Sharma|1950}} Appointed by the president,{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 162}} the prime minister is by convention supported by the [[political party|party]] or [[political alliance]] having a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament.{{sfn|Sharma|1950}} The executive of the Indian government consists of the president, the [[Vice President of India|vice-president]], and the [[Union Council of Ministers]]—with the [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]] being its executive committee—headed by the prime minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of parliament.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 31}} In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the prime minister and their council are directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament. [[Civil Services of India|Civil servants]] act as permanent executives and all decisions of the [[Executive (government)|executive]] are implemented by them.{{sfn|Mathew|2003|p = 524}}
* [[Legislature]]: The legislature of India is the [[bicameralism|bicameral]] [[Parliament of India|parliament]]. Operating under a [[Westminster system|Westminster-style]] parliamentary system, it comprises an upper house called the [[Rajya Sabha]] (Council of States) and a lower house called the [[Lok Sabha]] (House of the People).{{sfn|Gledhill|1970|p = 127}} The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body of 245{{Nbsp}}members who serve staggered six-year terms.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 161}} Most are elected indirectly by the [[States and union territories of India|state and union territorial]] legislatures in numbers proportional to their state's share of the national population.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 162}} All but two of the Lok Sabha's 545{{Nbsp}}members are elected directly by popular vote; they represent [[Single-member constituency|single-member constituencies]] for five-year{{Nbsp}}terms.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p = 143}} Two seats of parliament, [[Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Lok Sabha|reserved]] for [[Anglo-Indian]]s in the article 331, have been scrapped.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 December 2019 |title=Cabinet approves scrapping of 2 seats reserved for Anglo-Indians in Parliament |url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/seats-reserved-for-anglo-indians-in-parliament-to-be-scrapped-after-cabinet-approval |access-date=17 October 2021 |website=[[National Herald]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Ghosh |first1=Abantika |last2=Kaushal |first2=Pradeep |date=2 January 2020 |title=Explained: Anglo-Indian quota, its history, MPs |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/anglo-indian-quota-history-mps-6164232/ |access-date=17 October 2021 |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref>
* [[Judiciary]]: India has a three-tier{{Nbsp}}unitary [[Judicial independence|independent judiciary]]{{sfn|Neuborne|2003|p = 478}} comprising the [[Supreme Court of India|supreme court]], headed by the [[Chief Justice of India]], 25{{Nbsp}}[[High courts of India|high courts]], and a large number of trial courts.{{sfn|Neuborne|2003|p = 478}} The supreme court has [[original jurisdiction]] over cases involving [[Fundamental rights in India|fundamental rights]] and over disputes between states and the centre and has [[appellate jurisdiction]] over the high courts.{{sfn|Sharma|2007|pp = 238, 255}} It has the power to both strike down union or state laws which contravene the constitution{{sfn|Sripati|1998|pp=423–424}} and invalidate any government action it deems unconstitutional.{{sfn|Pylee|2003b|p = 314}}
{{clear}}