Uttar Pradesh - Government and Politics

Government and Politics

Since Uttar Pradesh sends the largest number of legislators to the national Parliament, it is often considered to be one of the most important states with respect to Indian politics. The state contributes 80 seats to the Lok Sabha and 34 seats to the Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament. Uttar Pradesh has been called India's under-achiever, because it has provided India with eight prime ministers while remaining a poor state.

The state's legislative body is divided into two significant parts: Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad and Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. The state is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy, a feature the state shares with other Indian states. The Governor is the head of state and is appointed by the President of India. The leader of the party or coalition with a majority in the Legislative Assembly is appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor, and the Council of Ministers are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. In the 2012 election, the largest number of seats went to the Samajwadi Party with 224 seats. At the local level, the state has a large number of village councils (panchayats), which are similar to those found in other Indian states. The administration in each district is headed by a Deputy Commissioner who belongs to the Indian Administrative Service and is assisted by a number of officers belonging to state services.

Judges and judicial officers are appointed non-politically and under strict rules regarding tenure to help maintain constitutional independence from the government. This theoretically allows the judiciary to interpret the law based solely on the legislation enacted by Parliament without other influences on their decisions. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service and assisted by the officers of the Uttar Pradesh Police Service, is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues in each district. The Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, also serves the government. Sectoral development in the districts is looked after by the district head of each development department such as the Department of Public Works, Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, etc.

The judiciary in the state consists of the Allahabad High Court in Allahabad, district courts namely the District court of Etawah, the district court of Kanpur Dehat as Uttar Pradesh Judiciary, session courts in each district, lower courts and judges at the taluka level. The President of India appoints the chief justice of the High Court of the Uttar Pradesh judiciary on the advice of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of India as well as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Other judges are appointed by the chief justice of the high court of the judiciary of Uttar Pradesh on the advice of the Chief Justice. Subordinate Judicial Service is another vital part of the judiciary of Uttar Pradesh. The subordinate judiciary or the district courts are categorized into two divisions viz. Uttar Pradesh civil judicial services and Uttar Pradesh higher judicial service. While the Uttar Pradesh civil judicial services comprises the munsifs and civil judges, the Uttar Pradesh higher judicial service comprises civil and sessions judges. The Subordinate judicial service of the judiciary at Uttar Pradesh is controlled by the District Judge. The district court of Etawah and district court of Kanpur Dehat of Uttar Pradesh serves as the subordinate judicial service of the state.