- Even though the Indian Constitution is evident with federal features like two governments, division of powers, a written Constitution, supremacy of the Constitution, rigidity of the Constitution, independent judiciary, and bicameralism,
- The unitary features of government are more prominent with elements like a strong Centre, a single Constitution, a single citizenship, flexibility of the Constitution, an integrated judiciary, appointment of state governors by the Centre, all-India services, and emergency provisions.
- The term ‘Federation’ has never been used in the Constitution. Article 1, on the other hand, describes India as a ‘Union of States’, which implies two things:
- The Indian Federation is not the result of an agreement by the states.
- No state has the right to secede from the federation.
- Description of the Indian Constitution
- K.C. Wheare – ‘federal in form but, unitary in spirit’, ‘quasi-federal’ by, ‘bargaining federalism’ by Morris Jones, ‘co-operative federalism’ by Granville