Awadh
While a majority of Federated worlds are multi-party democracies, the fact that the largest single one is a Marxist-Leninist party-state has hardly been insignificant to its historical development. Awadh was discovered and claimed by Bharat two centuries prior to the Great Collapse, and owing to its huge, accessible mineral deposits, it was designated as an industrial development zone. The cutthroat policies that had lifted Bharat itself out of post-colonial torpor and turned it into the foremost economic powerhouse was now turned to the colony worlds, and Awadh was one of the flagship examples. Conglomerates, both Bharatiya and foreign, were allowed to set up mines and factories subject to minimal taxation, and the millions of settlers wanting to leave their overpopulated homeland were able to buy cheap passage on liners subsidised by the Union Government. Once there, any laws that might have upheld their rights against their employers were more or less openly flaunted.
It's perhaps understandable that a strong resistance identity took hold among the workers, and various groups formed to speak for them - the Awadh Congress, the All Awadh Workers and Peasants Party, the Samajwadi Parishad, the Avata Munnetra Kazhagam, the Communist Party of Awadh (original), the Communist Party of Awadh (Marxist-Leninist), the Communist Party of Awadh (Revolutionary), along with dozens of smaller ones. It was only thanks to this disunity, and the diverse nature of the planetary population as a whole, that the class conflict remained mostly repressed and the Bharatiya planetary assembly was able to maintain control. Well, that and the economic and military support of the Union Government.
But with the Great Collapse, the Union Government was no longer a factor. Within a year, the entire planet was in revolt and the assembly building had been seized by militants of the CPA(M-L). Provisional elections were declared, and returned an enormously fractured assembly which gave no single group the space to maneouvre - in theory. The CPA(M-L), however, were able to leverage their unity and control over the principal institutions of the capital to expand their influence. By the fifth year, they were the de facto government of the planet, and in that year they solidified their position by forcing several of the assembly parties to merge with them until they controlled a majority of the membership. With the support of the now neutered assembly, the constitution of the Socialist Republic of Awadh was proclaimed.
The new state faced enormous challenges. The local Bharatiya fleet under Admiral Prasad, who would be called rogue if there had been any government left whose orders he could disregard, were determined to "secure" the worlds formerly under their control. They'd already conducted two orbital bombardment campaigns against Awadh, and continued to pose a threat to multiple sectors. The Central Committee acted swiftly. In the first five-year plan, the restoration of planetary defences and shipbuilding facilities was placed at top priority, and the entire planet was placed on a war-communist footing. The Committee also issued requests to all armed ships to defect, offering supplies, pay and blanket amnesty for sailors - but pointedly not for officers. Several ships purged their commands and submitted to Awadhi command, and along with the new production, there was a socialist fleet of equal size to what remained of Prasad's command by year eight.
The Battle of the Shoals, held at the outskirts of the Awadh system, has entered legend among Bharatiya and socialist circles across the galaxy. Prasad, having won a series of minor engagements, decided that his only chance was to raze Awadh once again and then attempt to assert control over it, spreading his influence from there to the peripheral worlds. The Awadhi Central Committee called in all the ships under its control to oppose the attempt, and despite poor equipment and worse coordination, they triumphed. Prasad went down with his flagship, and most of the other ships either defected or left the sector. The Committee issued a proclamation soon after, to the effect that Awadh made no claims whatsoever against other planets, and left them to develop in the manner most suited to their own material conditions and the best interests of their peoples. They themselves would be building socialism on one planet.
And so it went for the next several decades. Awadh had much to do to rebuild itself even to the state it had been in before the Collapse, let alone the socialist utopia its leaders envisioned. Nevertheless, its resource wealth continued to be its greatest asset, and the post-war five-year plans stimulated the growth of heavy industry. The (in)famous Awadhi industrial juggernaut took shape during the second and third decades after the Collapse. First steel, then aluminium, then finished industrial products came off the lines in larger and larger amounts, and Awadh grew rich off the trade in these products as nearby planets reconstructed and demand began to rise for them.
Shipping lanes continued to be menaced by raiders, and for this reason, Awadh decided to send a representative to the conference at Sadko in 76. The conference, convened to examine options for mutual defence, concluded with the signing of an accord to provide joint trade patrols and free reciprocal access to gates maintained by all signatories. Although modest, the Sadko Accord started the path to Federation. Awadh had been distrustful of all diplomatic entanglements until then, but now threw itself fully into the alliance.
Soon came the Papillo Constitution, which transformed the alliance into the Federation. The Constitution deliberately avoided mention of political systems and left it up to every member world to govern itself and send whichever delegates it chose to the Federal Assembly. This was partly to avoid upsetting the autocratic Rim worlds that provided the largest potential avenue for expansion, and partly to avoid upsetting Awadhi industrial and trade power by mandating electoral democracy. The second goal was mostly successful - the first, however, was not, as evidenced when twenty-four worlds in the Perseus Arm withdrew from the Federation over the first membership tax in 157. Initially they were allowed to go, but when they attacked the Federal cutter base at Jericho in 159, the bloodiest war in post-Collapse history ensued.
It was in large part due to the shipyards of Awadh and Korolev, both socialist worlds, that the Federation triumphed in the Persean War. The Delos Constitution, put into effect after the war's end, reaffirmed the permanence of the Federation and introduced stringent political requirements for member worlds, including a degree of open elections. This had been a red line for the Marxist-Leninist worlds, which argued that the party-state represented a form of democracy as pure as multi-party elections, but in the end they were forced to concede. While Korolev established an enforced two-party system, Awadh opted for the absolute minimum of change required to comply with the membership standards. It very likely could've skirted the rules altogether, and the mutual knowledge of this has prevented the Federation from further action.
The Communist Party remains the sole legal party on Awadh, and the constitution acknowledges it as the foundation of the state. The Central Committee, whose membership now exceeds 200, and its more manageable Politburo continue to wield most
de facto executive power over planetary affairs. For legislation, they are assisted by the Central People's Congress, which is elected every five years on a public ballot. The 1045 members are elected in single-member districts, and nominations are open but require all candidates to be members of the Communist Party. Official candidates are named at public meetings - typically day-long affairs held at cricket grounds due to the roughly seven million residents in each constituency - where anyone is welcome to make nominations, air grievances or suggest alternative candidates before a poll is held to formally anoint the candidate. The general poll is the less significant step, and the vast majority of official candidates are elected. A significant number are unopposed - the official Year 216 returns show around 1,600 candidates for the 1,045 seats - in which case a yes/no ballot is held. Only three candidates have ever been rejected in a yes/no poll, but the results were accepted and bypolls were held, showing that the Awadhi style of democracy is more than a Potemkin village.
Worlds of the Federation
Awadh
I'll need to be terser with these in future. I suppose there'll be more of note in the actual infobox for most of them.