Parliamentary Democracy in India by Dr Lm Singhvi

The most fundamental and far-reaching decision of India’s Constitution-makers was to establish the Indian democracy on the foundations of universal adult suffrage and on the principle of ‘one man, on vote’. The decision was an act of faith, homage to the people of India, implicit in the liberal outlook of India’s freedom struggle.
The decision to adopt universal adult suffrage was simple and without controversy, but it was by all accounts momentous and revolutionary, making every adult Indian citizen irrespective of caste, sex and economic or educational qualification, a shareholder in India’s democratic enterprise. Consequent of that decision, India became the largest democracy in the world.
The Indian Parliament exercises influence rather than power. Its functions lie primarily in processes of consultation and articulation and in the audit and scrutiny of the operations of the government. The substance of the power resides in the cabinet, and more particularly, in the office of the prime minister, but the sanction for that political power is provided by the representative principle embodied in the Parliament.