Politics of India in the context of "Socialist state"

A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state. The name given to the office of head of state depends on the country's form of government and any separation of powers; the powers of the office in each country range from being also the head of government to being little more than a ceremonial figurehead.

In a parliamentary system, such as India or the United Kingdom, the head of state usually has mostly ceremonial powers, with a separate head of government. However, in some parliamentary systems, like South Africa, there is an executive president that is both head of state and head of government. Likewise, in some parliamentary systems the head of state is not the head of government, but still has significant powers, for example Morocco. In contrast, a semi-presidential system, such as France, has both heads of state and government as the de facto leaders of the nation (in practice, they divide the leadership of the nation between themselves).

Zoroastrianism, an Iranian religion, has been present in India for thousands of years. Though it split into a separate branch, it shares a common origin with Hinduism and other Indian religions, having been derived from the Indo-Iranian religion. Though it was once the majority and official religion of the Iranian nation, Zoroastrianism eventually shifted to the Indian subcontinent in light of the Muslim conquest of Iran, which saw the Rashidun Caliphate annex the Sasanian Empire by 651 CE. Owing to the persecution of Zoroastrians in the post-Sasanian period, a large wave of Iranian migrants fled to India, where they became known as the Parsi people, who now represent India's oldest Zoroastrian community. Later waves of Zoroastrian immigration to India took place over the following centuries, with a spike in the number of these refugees occurring during the Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam and again during the reign of the Qajar dynasty, whose persecution of Zoroastrians prompted many to flee to British India, where they became known as the Irani people. Though Zoroastrian, the Parsis and the Iranis are culturally, linguistically, and socially distinct from each other due to their inception in separate periods of migration.

The comparatively liberal atmosphere of India and the protection provided by historical Indian kingdoms to their Zoroastrian subjects enabled the religion to flourish outside of the Iranian plateau. Today, India is home to the largest Zoroastrian population in the world, and despite their overall low population number, Indian Zoroastrians have had a significant impact on India's economy, culture, politics and military, and also played a major role in the Indian independence movement.

The Nehru–Gandhi family is an Indian political family that has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India. The involvement of the family has traditionally revolved around the Indian National Congress, as various members have traditionally led the party. Three members of the family—Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi—have served as the prime minister of India, while several others have been members of parliament (MP).

The Guardian wrote in 2007, "The Gandhi brand has no peer in the world—a member of the family has been in charge of India for 40 of the 60 years since independence. The allure of India's first family blends the right to rule of British monarchy with the tragic glamour of America's Kennedy clan."

Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, but was fully developed during the Indian independence movement which campaigned against nearly two centuries of British rule. Indian nationalism quickly rose to popularity in India through these united anti-colonial coalitions and movements. Independence movement figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Jawaharlal Nehru spearheaded the Indian nationalist movement, with the Indian National Congress playing a major role.

India's independence in 1947 was coupled with separation from Muslim-majority Pakistan, with that nation being carved out of British India's northwestern and eastern regions. Afterwards, Prime Minister Nehru and his successors continued to campaign on Indian nationalism in the face of border wars with both China and Pakistan, with the latter clashing several times over the Kashmir border region. After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 and the Bangladesh Liberation War, which resulted in East Pakistan's independence, Indian nationalism reached its post-independence peak. However by the 1980s, religious tensions reached a boiling point, the Indian National Congress lost its political dominance and became more authoritarian, and Indian nationalism sluggishly collapsed in the following decades. Despite its decline and the rise of religious nationalism, Indian nationalism and its historic figures continue to strongly influence the politics of India and reflect an opposition to the sectarian strands of Hindu nationalism and Muslim nationalism.

A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state. The name given to the office of head of state depends on the country's form of government and any separation of powers; the powers of the office in each country range from being also the head of government to being little more than a ceremonial figurehead.

In a parliamentary system, such as India or the United Kingdom, the head of state usually has mostly ceremonial powers, with a separate head of government. However, in some parliamentary systems, like South Africa, there is an executive president that is both head of state and head of government. Likewise, in some parliamentary systems the head of state is not the head of government, but still has significant powers, for example Morocco. In contrast, in other parliamentary systems such as Sweden and Japan, the head of state is purely ceremonial without any meaningful power.

The Bharatiya Jana Sangh (abbreviated as BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh; lit. 'All-India People's Union') was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Jan Sangh was the political arm of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindutva paramilitary organisation. In 1977, it merged with several other left, centre, and right parties opposed to the Indian National Congress and formed the Janata Party. In 1980, the members of the erstwhile Jan Sangh quit Janata Party after its defeat in the 1980 general election and formed the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the direct political successor to the Jan Sangh. In Bihar, Ramdeo Mahto considered as founding leader of Bharatiya Janata Party – Bihar, because he brought BJP Into the power in Bihar, he elected as a candidate of Bhartiya Jana Sangh to Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1969 Assembly elections from Patna East Assembly constituency.