Prime Minister of India - Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• In parliamentary system of government, the President is the nominal executive authority (de jure executive) (head of state) and Prime Minister is the real executive authority (de facto executive) (head of government).

Appointment of the PM -


• 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.


• But, in accordance with the conventions of the parliamentary system of government, the President has to appoint the leader of the majority party in the Lok Sabha as the Prime Minister.


• However, when no party has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, then the 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 asks him to seek a vote of confidence in the House within a month.


• This discretion was exercised by the President, forthe first time in 1979, when Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (the then President) appointed Charan Singh (the coalition leader) as the Prime Minister after the fall of the Janata Party government headed by Morarji Desai.


• Also, when the Prime Minister in office dies suddenly and there is no obvious successor, then too, the President can exercise his/her discretion.


• On the death of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri when the leadership was contested, the president made temporary arrangements by appointing the senior most minister as the Prime Minister, until the formal election of the leader by the party.


• Both the times, Gulzari Lal Nanda acted as the Prime Minister.


• When Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 the then President Zail Singh appointed Rajiv Gandhi as the Prime Minister by ignoring the precedent of appointing a care-taker Prime Minister.


• Later the Congress parliamentary party unanimously elected him as its leader.


• However, if, on the death of an in cumbent Prime Minister, the ruling party elects a new leader, the President has no choice but to appoint him as Prime Minister.


• In 1980, the Delhi High Court held that the Constitution does not require that a person must prove his majority in the Lok Sabha before he is appointed as the PM.


• The President may first appoint him the Prime Minister and then ask him to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha within a reasonable period.


• Charan Singh (1979), VP Singh (1989), Chandrasekhar (1990), P. V. Narasimha Rao (1991), A. B. Vajyapee (1996), Deve Gowda (1996), I. K. Gujral (1997) and again A. B. Vajpayee (1998) were appointed as Prime Ministers in this way.


• In 1997, the Supreme Court held that a person who is not a member of either House of Parliament can be appointed as Prime Minister for six months, within which, he should become a member of either House of Parliament; otherwise, he ceases to be the PM.


• The PM may be a member of any of the two Houses of parliament. Indira Gandhi (1966), Deve Gowda (1996) and Manmohan Singh (2004), were members of the Rajya Sabha.


• In Britain, the Prime Minister has to be a member of the Lower House (House of Commons).

ANSWER: 1, 2 and 3

Explanation:

• Five people became Prime Ministers after being Chief Ministers of their respective States.


• They were - Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, V. P. Singh, P. V. Narasimha Rao and H. D. Deve Gowda.


• Morarji Desai was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile Bombay State during 1952-56.


• He became the first non-Congress Prime Minister in March 1977.


• Charan Singh, who succeeded him as the PM in 1979, was the Chief Minister of the undivided Uttar Pradesh in 1967-1968 and again in 1970.


• V. P. Singh, also from U.P., became Prime Minister in the National Front government (December 1989-November 1990).


• P. V. Narasimha Rao, the first Prime Minister from South India, held the post from 1991-1996.


• He was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh between 1971-1973.


• H. D. Deve Gowda was Chief Minister of Karnataka when he was chosen to lead the United Front government in June 1996.

Many have described the post of the PM as follows -

1. Lord Morely - He described Prime Minister as ‘primus inter pares’ (first among equals) and ‘keystone of the cabinet arch’.

2. Sir William Vernor Harcourt - He described Prime Minister as ‘inter stellas luna minores’ (a moon among lesser stars).

3. Jennings - All roads in the constitution lead to the Prime Minister.

4. H. J. Laski - On the relationship between the Prime Minister and the cabinet, he said that the Prime Minister “is central to its formation, central to its life, and central to its death”. He described him as“the pivot around which the entire governmental machinery revolves.”

5. H. R. G. Greaves - “The Government is the master of the country and he (Prime Minister) is the master of the Government.”

6. Munro - He called Prime Minister as “the captain of the ship of the state”.

7. Ramsay Muir - He described Prime Minister as “the steersman of steering wheel of the ship of the state.”

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

The constitutional provisions dealing with the relationship between the President and the Prime Minister are -

Article 74 - There shall be a council of ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice.


• However, the President may require the council of ministers to reconsider such advice and the President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.

Article 75 (a) - The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other ministers shall be appointed by the president on the advice of the Prime Minister;

Article 75 (b) - The ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the president; and

Article 75 (c) - The council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People.

Article 78 - It shall be the duty of the Prime Minister -

a) to communicate to the President all decisions of the council of ministers relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation;

b) to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation as the President may call for; and

c) if the President so requires, to submit for the consideration of the council of ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a minister but which has not been considered by the council.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:

• Before the Prime Minister enters upon his office, the president administers to him the oaths of office and secrecy.


• The form of oath of office and secrecy for the Prime Minister is similar to that for any Union minister.


• The term of the Prime Minister is not fixed and he holds office during the pleasure of the president.



• However, as long as the Prime Minister enjoys the majority support in the Lok Sabha, he cannot be dismissed by the President.


• However, if he loses the confidence of the Lok Sabha, he must resign or the President can dismiss him.

The powers and functions of Prime Minister in relation to Council of Ministers -

1. The Prime Minister is the head of the Union council of ministers.

2. He recommends persons who can be appointed as ministers by the president.

3. The President can appoint only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the Prime Minister.
4. He allocates and reshuffles various portfolios among the ministers.

5. He can ask a minister to resign or advise the President to dismiss him in case of difference of opinion.

6. He presides over the meeting of council of ministers and influences its decisions.

7. He guides, directs, controls, and coordinates the activities of all the ministers.

8. He can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by resigning from office.

9. Since the Prime Minister stands at the head of the council of ministers, the other ministers cannot function when the Prime Minister resigns or dies.

10. In other words, the resignation or death of an incumbent Prime Minister automatically dissolves the council of ministers and thereby generates a vacuum.

11. The resignation or death of any other minister, on the other hand, merely creates a vacancy which the Prime Minister may or may not likely fill.

Powers in relation to Parliament -

1. The Prime Minister is the leader of the Lower House.

2. In this capacity, he advises the President with regard to summoning and proroguing of the sessions of the Parliament.

3. He can recommend dissolution of the Lok Sabha to President at any time.

4. He announces government policies on the floor of the House.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

Powers in relation to the President -

1. He is the principal channel of communication between the President and the council of Ministers (Article 78).

2. As per Article 78, it is the duty of the prime minister -

a) to communicate to the President all decisions of the council of ministers relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation;

b) to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation as the President may call for; and

c) if the President so requires, to submit for the consideration of the council of ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a minister but which has not been considered by the council.

3. He advises the president with regard to the appointment of important officials like attorney general of India, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, chairman and members of the UPSC, election commissioners, chairman and members of the finance commission etc.

Other Powers and functions are -

1. He is the chairman of the Planning Commission, National Development Council, National Integration Council, Inter-State Council and National Water Resources Council.

2. He plays a significant role in shaping the foreign policy of the country.

3. He is the chief spokesman of the Union government.

4. He is the crisis manager-in-chief at the political level during emergencies.

5. As a leader of the nation, he meets various sections of people in different states and receives memoranda from them regarding their problems, and so on.

6. He is leader of the party in power.

7. He is political head of the services.


• Dr. B. R. Ambedkar stated, ‘If any functionary under our constitution is to be compared with the US president, he is the Prime Minister and not the president of the Union’.

ANSWER: 1, 3

Explanation:

Former Prime Ministers of India are -

1. Jawaharlal Nehru 1947-1964 (Died).

2. Gulzari Lal Nanda 1964-1964 (Acting).

3. Lal Bahadur Shastri 1964-1966 (Died).

4. Gulzari Lal Nanda 1966-1966 (Acting).

5. Indira Gandhi 1966-1977.

6. Morarji Desai 1977-1979.

7. Charan Singh 1979-1980.

8. Indira Gandhi 1980-1984 (Died).

9. Rajiv Gandhi 1984-1989.

10. Vishwanath Pratap Singh 1989-1990.

11. Chandra Shekhar 1990-1991.

12. P. V. Narasimha Rao 1991-1996.

13. Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1996-1996 (For 16 Days).

14. H. D. Deve Gowda 1996-1997.

15. I. K. Gujral 1997-1998.

16. Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1998-1999.

17. Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1999-2004.

18. Dr. Manmohan Singh 2004-2014.

19. Narendra Modi 2014-till date.


• There have 15 different Prime Ministers in the 16 Lok Sabhas including Gulzarilal Nanda who twice acted in the role.


• Narendra Modi is the 15^th PM of India.


• Nehru,the first PM of India remains India's longest-serving prime minister.


• Indira Gandhi became second longest serving PM.


• Manmohan Singh is the third longest serving PM.


• Then it was Rajiv Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Lal Bahadur Shastri.


• Excluding Gulzari Lal Nanda, who actually was acting PM twice, the shortest tenure was of Charan Singh.

ANSWER: Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram

Explanation:

• Deputy Prime Minister is technically not a constitutional office.


• The office has since been only intermittently occupied.


• The seventh and last deputy prime minister was L. K. Advani.


• He took on the role in addition to his Home Minister status, from 2002 to 2004, in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government.


• The position of deputy prime minister is used to bring political stability and strength within a coalition government or in times of national emergency, when a proper chain of command is necessary.


• The first Deputy Prime Minister of India was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was also Home Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.

Various Deputy PMs of India and their tenure are -

1. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel from 1947-1950.

2. Morarji Desai from 1967-1969.

3. Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram (jointly) from 1979-1979.

4. Y. B. Chavan from 1979-1980.

5. Devi Lal from 1989-1990.

6. Devi Lal from 1990-1991.

7. L. K. Advani from 2002-2004.