INDIA: BACKGROUND BRIEF
General
India is the largest and most powerful country in the
sub-continent.
1.
at
It has a parliamentary system of Government at national and state level. The Prime Minister, Mr Gandhi, who is
Nehru's grandson, became Prime Minister on the assassination of his mother on 31 October 1984. His party, known at present as Congress (1), has ruled ever since Independence except from 1977-80: general elections in December 1984 it received a record majority. At present, the numerous opposition parties, none of them of genuinely all-India scope, do not offer a coherent alternative: indeed, the largest opposition party is avowedly regional.
Political
2.
The President of India, Shri (honorific) Zail Singh, is the Head of State. Mr Rajiv Gandhi has been Prime Minister since his mother, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by Sikh members of her bodyguard on 31 October 1984 in revenge for the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar (which had been used as a refuge for Sikh terrorists) in
June 1984.
3.
When Rajiv Gandhi visited the UK in October 1985, one year after his accession to power, it could still be said that he was in his "honeymoon" period; he had a remarkable series of achievements behind him, and had suffered no serious reverses. His popularity in India as a whole is still high, despite some recent setbacks.
4. The sweeping victory of Congress (I) in the general elections on 24-27 December 1984, in which the party won 80% of parliamentary seats, followed by victories in 8 out of 11 State Assembly elections in March 1985, ensured Rajiv Gandhi's dominance over Congress (I) and the Indian political scene. The March budget, which made sweeping tax concessions to the corporate sector, reduced taxation on high incomes, and liberalised imports, was dramatic by Indian standards and laid Mr Gandhi open to criticism that he had abandoned Congress (I)'s socialist ideology and was not doing enough for the
poor.
These economic measures appeared to pay off. Despite the lower tax rates, tax revenues substantially increased (aided in part
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