Lesson 6 – The Executive: Prime Minister
The Prime Minister
The Prime Minister occupies a pivotal position in the union
executive. Unlike Britain where the Prime Minister does not enjoy any
constitutional status, the office of the Prime Minister in the India has been
created by the constitution. Article 74(1) of the constitution provides that
“there shall be Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid
and advice the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in
accordance with such advice.”
The prime minister is appointed by the President. However,
the President has to appoint only such a person as Prime Minister who commands
majority in the Lok Sabha. This means that if a single party has majority in
Lok Sabha, its leader would naturally be appointed as Prime Minister.
Term of Prime Minister
Term of office Prime Minister holds office for a term of
five years. However, if the life of the Lok Sabha is extended beyond five
years, the term of the Prime Minister gets automatically extended. Similarly,
if the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the expiry of it five years term, the term
of the Prime Minister is automatically cut short.
Theoretically the Prime Minister holds office during the
pleasure of the President, but actually he remains in office as long as he
enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha. If he loses the confidence of the Lok
Sabha, the Prime Minister must either tender his resignation or the President
can dismiss him.
Salary and allowances
The Prime Minister gets a monthly salary and other
allowances which are paid to members of parliament. He also receives
constituency allowances at the same rate to which the MPs are entitled. In
addition, the Prime Minister gets a sumptuary allowance per month. Over and
above, he is entitled to free house, medical facilities and travelling
allowances.
Power and functions of the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister as the Chief adviser of the president and
the Chairman of the Council of Ministers enjoys very extensive functions and
powers. The constitution acknowledges the primary position of the Prime
Minister in the council of ministers by specifically providing that “there
shall be Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head” to aid and
advise the President.
It is well known fact that in Parliamentary system of
government the Prime Minister is the Centre of executive and imparts content
and meaning to the policies to the government.
The powers of the Prime Minister can be conveniently studied
under the following categories:
1. In relation to the Council of Ministers: the prime
minister occupies a key position in relation to the council of ministers. All
members of the council of ministers are appointed by the president on the
advice of the prime minister.
After the council of ministers is constituted, it is the
prerogative of the prime minister to allocate various portfolios among the
ministers. He can also reshuffle these portfolios subsequently in the interest
of administrative efficiency.
In case of difference of opinion between the prime minister
and other ministers, the prime minister can either advise the minister to
tender his resignation or recommend his dismissal to the president. As the
Chairman of the council of ministers, the prime minister determines its agenda
and proceedings, and influences the decisions of the council of ministers in a
decisive manner. Above all, the prime minister co-ordinates the working of the
various ministries and ensures that their policies programmes do not conflict.
2. In relation to the president: the prime minister
is the chief channel of communication between the president and the council of
ministers. According to the Article 78, it is the duty of the prime minister to
communicate to the president all decisions of the council of ministers.
The prime minister is also duty bound to supply such
information to the president regarding proposal of legislation and
administration of the Union, as the president may call for.It is significant to
note that no other member of the council of ministers is authorized to make any
direct communication with the president unless he is so authorized.
The president acts on the advice of the prime minister with
regard to the appointment of important officials like the Chief Justice of
India, the judges of supreme court, the Chief justice and judges of the High
Courts; Comptroller and Auditor General; Chairman and members of Union Public
Service Commissioner; Election Commissioner; Governors; Chief of the Army,
Navy, and Air Force; Ambassadors and High Commissioners and other officials.
3. In relation to the Parliament: the prime minister
is intimately connected with the parliament. In fact, he is appointed as prime
minister only because he is the leader of the majority party in Lok Sabha.
The prime minister has to justify the policy and programmes
of his government in the floor of the parliament. In fact, all important policy
announcements are made by the prime minister on the floor of the parliament.
After his appointment, prime minister and the council of
ministers is collectively responsible to the parliament and stays in office as
long as it enjoys the confidence of the majority of the members of Lok Sabha.
The prime minister has to justify the policy and programmes of his government
in the floor of the parliament.
The prime minister also exercises control over the time
table of the house. Its sessions are convened and prorogued by the president on
the advice of the prime minister. The president dissolves the Lok Sabha on the
advice of the prime minister.
4. In relation to the party: prime minister is an
important leader of the party and greatly influences its working and decisions.
He keeps in constant touch with other important members of his party to ensure
the party solidarity and support.
Prime minister is fully aware that the continued existence
of his government depends on party support.
Therefore, he tries to maintain the best of relations and
control over party leaders. Quite often the prime minister himself acts as the
president of the party. But at present prime minister and the president of the
party are separate.
It is a well-known fact that at times prime minister like
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Mr. Charan Singh, and Mr. Rajiv
Gandhi were also the president of their political parties.
5. Conduct of international relation: the prime
minister also plays an important role in conduct of international relations.
Generally, the prime minister keeps the portfolio of external affairs with him.
Even if some other minister is in charge of this department,
he works in complete co-operation with the prime minister and keeps him posted
with all the recent developments. The prime minister represents the country in
the various international conferences, and plays vital role in the conduct of
country’s international relations.
6. Power of patronage: the president of India is head
of the state while prime minister is the head of the government. He enjoys
great power of patronage. Although the president of India is vested with many
executive powers, in actual practice he or she acts only at the advice of the
prime minister and the cabinet. All major appointments of the Union Government
are virtually made by the prime minister and all the major decision making
bodies like the Union Cabinet, Governor, and Chairmanship of various committees,
planning commission (Niti Ayog), etc. Cabinet Committees function under his
supervision and direction. The prime mister can elevate even the non-entities
to the most important position.
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Position of the Prime Minister:
The Prime Minister no more remains the leader of the party
in Parliament but becomes the leader of the Nation as a whole. He is the centre
and focus of the people’s hope and aspirations. To the people at large he
symbolizes the national government. He enjoys tremendous power and influences
both in the executive and legislative sphere. As Head of the Council of
Ministers he plays a decisive role in the formation and implementation of the
policy by the various ministers.
In this respect the position of the Prime Minister in Great
Britain and all those epithets which are used for the British Prime Minister
are applicable to him as well. Some of these epithets are primus inter pares
(first among equals), ‘steersman of the Ship of the State’, ‘the moon among the
lesser stars’ and ‘sun around which all other planet revolves’.
In fact, the position of the Indian Prime Minister is
superior to the position of the British Prime Minister in so far as Indian
Prime Minister’s office enjoys a constitutional basis and is not a product of
the convention.
It may be further observed that the position of the Indian
Prime Minister, like that of the British Prime Minister, depends on his
personality, the position of his party in the parliament and his own position
within the party.
Prime Minister and the President
According to the characteristics and convention of the
Parliamentary democracy President is supposed to be only a constitutional head.
All the executive powers lie with the prime minister and his cabinet and
President is just a nominal executive. Therefore, the President being the
nominal executive can only function with the aid and advice of the real
executive, i.e., the prime minister and his Council of Ministers.
The Prime Minister no power to dislodge the President except
through impeachment, which requires special majority in both Houses of
Parliament. The President has several ways of conveying his displeasure to the
Prime Minister. Article 74 lays down that the Prime Minister and his Council of
Ministers are to aid and advice the President of India. It says that the
President shall in the exercise of his functions act in accordance with such
advice.
According to the Article 78 of the constitution it shall be
the duty of the Prime Minister to communicate to the President all decisions of
the Council of Ministers relating the administration of the affairs of the
Union and proposals of the legislation. This makes Prime Minister a link
between the President and the Cabinet and Chief advisor of the President.
There were major ideological differences between President
Rajendra Prasad and prime minister Pundit Nehru over certain appointments of
highest State officials and even Governors and Ambassador. Through the daily
newspaper President came to know about the appointments and the president
protested against such practices of ignoring the president, because it was
setting bad precedents.
In 1960, President Rajendra Prasad even asked the
constitution experts to re-examine the powers of the president in the Indian
Constitution. Again, relation between President Giani Zail Singh and Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi strained, because the President complained that he was
ignored and side lined by Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and had been kept in
the dark and not being informed about many important state matters despite
constitutional provisions and also in pursuance of the convention followed by
all previous prime ministers, in their relation with President. Though Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi denied this allegation.
Theoretically speaking it may be violation of the article
78, for it carries the word ‘duty’, which implies it is the duty of the Prime
Minister to consult the President. Fortunately, or unfortunately no president
so far has made an issue of this, hence Article 78 has not been tested. Mostly,
the other presidents like Zakir Hussain, V.V. Giri, F.A. Ahmed, R.
Venkataraman, Sankar Dayal Sharma stuck to their constitutional role and the
relations between them and the Prime Minister did not enter into any
controversy. President Zail Singh also did not give his assent to the Indian
post office amendment bill in 1986. President Zail Singh withheld his assent on
the ground that the Act would violate the privacy of citizens.
Which was again refused by President R. Venkatraman, and he
returned the bill with suggestions for amendment on 7th January 1990. The
Janata Dal government did not pursue the matter.1 President K.R. Narayan also
sent back the Cabinet’s advice to impose article 356 or President Rule in
states for reconsideration. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam again in many cases
earned the wrath of the Prime Minister on many occasions.
Some of his official visits were not appreciated like- his
official visit to riot-hit Gujrat was not appreciated by the Government. The
president also sent back the poll ordinance for reconsideration but had to sign
it after it was passed for the second time. He also sent back office of profit
bill in 2006. during Pratibha Devi Patil’s tenure there has been no friction
between government and the President.1 Thus there have been arisen questions
about president’s acting independently in cases of fluid situations or cabinet
having lost majorities. Unless some definite conventions are established for
such eventualities this may prove quite dangerous for Parliamentary Democracy.
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