Indian Leaders | Indian President | Indian Prime minister

LEADERS

President: Pratibha Patil

Pratibha Patil became India's first female president in July 2007, after being voted into office by members of state assemblies and the national parliament. Mrs. Patil, the candidate of the ruling Congress Party, was previously the little-known governor of the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan. She drew criticism during the campaign over scandals involving family members, and over controversial remarks.

Supporters hailed her election as a victory for women, but critics wondered how much influence she would have.

India has had several women in powerful positions - most notably Indira Gandhi, one of the world's first female prime ministers in 1966 - but activists complain that women still face widespread discrimination.

Mrs. Patil succeeds APJ Abdul Kalam, a scientist and the architect of the country's missile programme.

Indian presidents have few actual powers, but they can decide which party or individual should form the central government after general elections.

Prime minister: Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh became prime minister in May 2004 after the Congress Party's unexpected success in general elections. The party's president, Sonia Gandhi, the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, shocked her supporters by declining the top post, apparently to protect the party from damaging attacks over her Italian origin.

Mr. Singh said his priorities were to reduce poverty and to plough on with economic reforms. He stated a desire for friendly relations with India's neighbors, especially Pakistan. During his first year in office he held together a coalition, which included communist allies and ministers accused of corruption. He continued to pursue market-friendly economic policies and oversaw the introduction of nuclear non-proliferation legislation. But his promised "New Deal" for rural India - an attempt to raise the poorest citizens out of poverty - has still to bear fruit.

Mr. Singh made his reputation as a finance minister in the early 1990s, under the P V Narasimha Rao government, when he was the driving force behind economic liberalization.

When the Congress Party was voted out of office, Mr. Singh became opposition leader in the upper house.

A Sikh born in West Punjab, Mr. Singh is a former International Monetary Fund official and governor of India's Central Bank. He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge.