Prime Minister, Council of Ministers and the Cabinet

The real executive

In the parliamentary system, the Prime Minister is the head of government and the Council of Ministers headed by the PM exercises real executive power. Article 74 provides for a Council of Ministers "to aid and advise" the President, and Article 75 deals with appointment, responsibility and other matters.

Appointment of the Prime Minister

The Constitution has no specific procedure – Article 75 says only that the President shall appoint the PM. By convention the President appoints the leader of the majority party (or coalition) in the Lok Sabha. When no party has a clear majority, the President may use personal discretion – appointing the leader of the largest party or coalition and asking them to seek a vote of confidence within a month (as with Charan Singh in 1979, V.P. Singh in 1989, and governments in 1996–98). If a PM dies in office, the President must appoint a successor (as with Gulzarilal Nanda as interim PM in 1964 and 1966).

A person who is not a member of either House can be appointed PM for six months, within which they must become a member of Parliament. The PM may be a member of either House – Indira Gandhi (1966), H.D. Deve Gowda (1996) and Manmohan Singh (2004) were Rajya Sabha members when appointed. The PM takes the oath of office and secrecy administered by the President. The PM holds office "during the pleasure of the President", but in practice cannot be dismissed while commanding a majority in the Lok Sabha.

Powers and functions of the PM

• Council of Ministers: recommends persons to be appointed ministers, allocates and reshuffles portfolios, can ask a minister to resign or advise the President to dismiss them, presides over cabinet meetings, and can bring down the whole Council by resigning or dying in office.
• Link with the President: the PM is the principal channel of communication between the President and the Council of Ministers (Article 78). The PM must communicate all decisions of the Council on administration and legislation, furnish information the President calls for, and, if the President requires, submit for the Council's consideration any matter decided by a single minister.
• Parliament: leader of the Lower House; advises the President on summoning and proroguing sessions and on dissolving the Lok Sabha; announces government policies on the floor.
• Other roles: chairs NITI Aayog, the National Integration Council, the Inter-State Council, the National Water Resources Council and the National Disaster Management Authority; is the political head of the services; the chief spokesperson of the Union government; and leader of the ruling party.

The Council of Ministers

Size: the 91st Amendment (2003) limited the total number of ministers, including the PM, to 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha (and of the assembly in states, with a minimum of 12 ministers in a state). It also barred members disqualified under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection) from becoming ministers until they are re-elected.

Three categories:

1. Cabinet ministers – heads of important ministries such as Home, Defence, Finance and External Affairs; members of the Cabinet.
2. Ministers of State – may hold independent charge of a ministry or be attached to Cabinet ministers.
3. Deputy ministers – assist Cabinet ministers or Ministers of State (none in recent governments).

There may also be parliamentary secretaries, though none have been appointed at the Centre since 1990.

Responsibility:

• Collective responsibility (Article 75(3)) – the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. All ministers own joint responsibility for all acts; they swim or sink together. If the Lok Sabha passes a no-confidence motion, the whole Council must resign, even ministers from the Rajya Sabha. A minister who disagrees with a Cabinet decision must either accept it or resign. Example: the V.P. Singh government lost a vote of confidence in 1990, and the Vajpayee government lost one by a single vote in April 1999.
• Individual responsibility (Article 75(2)) – ministers hold office during the President's pleasure, which in practice means the PM can have a minister removed.
• No legal responsibility – no requirement that a minister countersign the President's orders, and courts cannot inquire into the advice given (Article 74(2)).

A minister who is not an MP must become one within six months. Ministers have the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of both Houses, but can vote only in the House of which they are members.

Cabinet and cabinet committees

The Cabinet is a smaller body of senior ministers within the Council of Ministers – the real centre of authority. The word "Cabinet" was inserted into the Constitution by the 44th Amendment (1978) in Article 352 (the President can proclaim a national emergency only on the written advice of the Cabinet). The Cabinet is the highest decision-making authority, the chief policy formulating body, the chief co-ordinator of central administration and an advisor to the President.

Cabinet committees are extra-constitutional, set up by the PM under the Transaction of Business Rules. Important ones:

• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet – PM and Home Minister; decides senior appointments.
• Cabinet Committee on Security – PM, Home, Defence, Finance and External Affairs ministers.
• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (the "super cabinet"), and others such as Accommodation and Investment & Growth.

Groups of Ministers (GoMs) are ad hoc bodies on specific issues. The kitchen cabinet refers to an informal inner circle of the PM's trusted colleagues and advisers – a feature of all parliamentary systems.

Council of Ministers vs Cabinet

Practice: Mains question

*"The Prime Minister is the keystone of the Cabinet arch." Discuss the role of the PM in a coalition era and in a single-party majority government. (250 words)* Contrast coalition constraints (common minimum programmes, coordination committees, 1996–2014) with the stronger position of a PM leading a single-party majority (1984, 2014, 2019). Mention institutional supports – PMO, cabinet committees, NITI Aayog – and checks: Parliament, federal parties, courts and media.

Common traps

• A non-member can be PM for six months; the PM can be from the Rajya Sabha.
• The 15% cap counts the PM too, and the base is the Lok Sabha's total strength.
• Collective responsibility is to the Lok Sabha only.
• "Cabinet" appears in the Constitution only in Article 352 after the 44th Amendment.

Practice: check your understanding

1. *Can a Rajya Sabha minister vote on a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha?* No – ministers vote only in their own House, though the motion affects them too.
2. *What happens to the Council of Ministers if the PM resigns?* The whole Council is dissolved.