PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

Table of Contents

PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

Who is the Prime Minister of India?

The Prime Minister of India is the Chief Executive (de facto executive) of the Government of India. In India’s Parliamentary System, the  Constitution names the President as head of the state de jure, but his or her de facto executive powers are vested in the Prime Minister and their Council of Ministers.

How is the Prime Minister of India elected?

The Constitution does not contain any specific procedure for the selection and appointment of the Prime minister. Article 75 says only that the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President. However, this does not imply that the President is free to appoint any one as the Prime Minister of India. For the convenience of the Parliamentary system of India, the President has to appoint the leader of the majority party or the alliance that has the majority in the Lok Sabha.

But, when no party has clear majority in the Lok Sabha, then president may exercise his personal discretion in the selection and appointment of the Prime Minister. In such a situation, the president usually appoints the leader of the largest party or coalition in the Lok Sabha as the prime minister and ask him to seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha within a month. This happens also when suddenly the Prime Minister dies in the office and there is no obvious successor.

And if a person appointed as the Prime Minister is not a member of the either house then he should become a member of either house of Parliament within 6 months. 

What is the tenure of the Prime Minister of India?

The term of the Prime Minister is not fixed. So long as the Prime Minister has the majority support in the Lok Sabha he cannot be dismissed by the President and if he loses the confidence in Lok Sabha then he must resign or the President can dismiss him.

What are the powers and functions of the Prime Minister?

  • He is the Head of the Union Council of Ministers.
  • The President can appoint only those persons as the minister who is recommended by the Prime Minister.
  • He allocates and shuffles the various portfolios among the minsters.
  • On his resignation or sudden death, the Council of Ministers automatically gets dissolved. 
  • He is the chairman of the NITI Aayog (erstwhile Planning Commission), National Development Council, Inter-State Council, and National Water Resources Council.
  • He is the chief spokesperson of the Union Government.
  • He can recommend the dissolution of the Lok Sabha to the President at any time.
  • He advises the President with regard to the appointment of the following officials
    • Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Attorney General of India, Chairman and members of the UPSC, election commissioners, Chairman and members of the finance commission, and so on.

Facts related to the Prime Ministers of India…

  • Till now Nehru remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of India. His tenure was 16 years and 286 days.
  • Nehru Ji was the first Prime Minister of India.
  • Members of Nehru-Gandhi Family have been prime minister for a total of 37 years and 303 days.
  • Narendra Modi (17 September 1950) is the first Prime Minister of India to be born after the Independence of India. All other former Prime Ministers were born before the Independence of India.
  • Morarji Desai of Janata party became the first non-Congress Prime Minister.
  • Indira Gandhi was the first and to date only female Prime Minister of India.
  • The youngest person to become Prime Minister was Rajiv Gandhi, who became Prime Minister at the age of 40 years, 72 days.
  • The oldest person to become Prime Minister was Morarji Desai, who became Prime Minister at the age of 81 years, 23 days.
  • Lal Bahadur Shastri is the only prime minister to die abroad when he died in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan in 1966.

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