Module-5

Academic year: 2022-23

Even Semester Semester :2nd
Subject Name: Constitution of India
Subject Code: BICOK207
Topics:
1. State Executive and Governor, CM, State Cabinet,
2. Legislature - VS & VP,
3. Election Commission, Elections & Electoral Process.
4. Amendment to Constitution, and Important Constitutional Amendments till
today.
5. Emergency Provisions.

State Executive and Governor, CM, State Cabinet,

State executive consists of Governor and Council of Ministers with Chief Minister as
its head. The Governor of a State is appointed by the President for a term of five years
and holds office during his pleasure

Governor

The Governor is the state's chief executive officer. He acts as a representative of the
union government. The Governor has executive power over the state, and all
executive actions must be made in his or her name.

Who appoints Governor of a state- The Governor of a State shall be appointed by the
President by warrant under his hand and seal

Who is the first Governor Of India

in 1835, Lord William Bentinck became the first governor general of India. After
1858, the governor-general (now usually known as the viceroy).

Who is eligible to become Governor.

A person to be eligible for appointment as Governor should be citizen of India and

has completed age of 35 years (Article 157). The Governor shall not be a member of
the Legislature or Parliament; shall not hold any office of profit, shall be entitled to
emoluments and allowances. (Article 158).

Chief Minister and Council of Ministers

As a real executive authority, the Chief Minister is called the head of the government.
He is assisted by his council of ministers who are a part of state executive along with
 Governor and Advocate-General of State. Similar to Prime Minister who is the head
of the government at the centre, the Chief Minister is the head of the government at
the state level.

How is a Chief Minister appointed?

According to Article 164 in the Indian Constitution, Governor appoints Chief Minister.
However, the Governor cannot appoint any random person as the Chief Minister but has to
follow a provision.

A leader of the party that has got the majority share of votes in the assembly elections, is
appointed as the Chief Minister of the state.

• When no party gets a majority in the elections, governor exercises his own discretion
and appoint a Chief Minister accordingly.
• In a case where no party has won the majority votes, Governor appoints the member
of the largest party or one from the coalition (if occurs) as the Chief Minister and then
he is given 1 month time to prove confidence in the house.
• If the incumbent dies in the office, Governor at his own discretion can appoint a Chief
Minister however, the ruling party nominates a member and Governor usually
appoints that person as the Chief Minister. This person then has to prove confidence
within a specified time.
• A person not belonging to either house (Legislative Assembly & Council) can also be
appointed as the Chief Minister, however, within six months of his tenure as a CM he
should be elected to either house without which he ceases to be a CM.
• Chief Minister can belong to any house in the State Legislature.

State Cabinet

State executive consists of Governor and Council of Ministers with Chief Minister as its
head

Election Commission
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by
the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the
Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, direction, and control of elections to
parliament, state legislatures, the office of the president of India, and the office of vice-
president of India shall be vested in the election commission. Thus, the Election Commission
is an all-India body in the sense that it is common to both the Central government and the
state governments.[3]
The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative
Assemblies, State Legislative Councils and the offices of the President and Vice President of
the country. The Election Commission operates under the authority
of Constitution per Article 324 and subsequently enacted Representation of the People
Act.[6] The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate
manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in
the conduct of an election. It is a permanent constitutional body.
The commission is served by its secretariat located in New Delhi.[2] The Election
Commissioners are assisted by Deputy Election Commissioners, who are generally IAS
officers. They are further assisted by Directors General, Principal Secretaries, and Secretaries
and Under Secretaries.
At the state level, Election Commission is assisted by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State,
who is an IAS officer of Principal Secretary rank. At the district and constituency levels,
the District Magistrates (in their capacity as District Election Officers), Electoral Registration
Officers and Returning Officers perform election work.

Functions
One of the most important features of the democratic policy in India is elections at regular
intervals. Holding periodic, free and fair elections are essentials of a democratic system and a
part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The Election Commission is regarded as the
guardian of elections in the country. In every election, it issues a Model Code of Conduct for
political parties and candidates to conduct elections in a free and fair manner. The
commission issued the Code of Conduct for the first time in 1971 for the 5th Lok Sabha
elections and has revised it from time to time. It lays down guidelines for the conduct of
political parties and candidates during an election period. However, there have been instances
of violation of the code by various political parties with complaints being received for misuse
of official machinery by the candidates. The code does not have any specific statutory basis
but only a persuasive effect. It contains the rules of electoral morality. However, this lack of
statutory backing does not prevent the commission from enforcing it.
Electronic voting machines (EVM)
India has been the first country to adopt Electronic Voting at such a large scale. Electronic
voting machines (EVM) were introduced by Election Commission in order to reduce
malpractices and improve efficiency. They were tried for the first time on an experimental
basis for the 1982 Kerala State Legislative Assembly Elections. After a successful testing and
the legal inquiries, the commission took the decision to begin the use of these voting
machines.

Electoral process
The mechanism by which people can choose their representatives at regular intervals and
change them whenever they want to is called an election. In an election the voters make many
choices
The members of parliament of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the Indian public voting
in single-member districts and the members of parliament of the Rajya Sabha are elected by
the members of all state legislative assemblies by proportional representation.

Amendment to Constitution, and Important Constitutional Amendments till today

As of October 2021, there have been 105 amendments to the Constitution of India since
it was first enacted in 1950.

86TH Amendment – Very important and recent amendment

A new Fundamental Duty under Article 51 A was added – “It shall be the duty of every
citizen of India who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his
child or ward between the age of six and fourteen years”

How is the Indian Constitution amended

If the bill seeks to amend the federal provisions of the Constitution, it must also be
ratified by the legislatures of half of the states by a simple majority. After duly passed
by both the Houses of Parliament and ratified by the state legislatures, where necessary,
the bill is presented to the President for assent.

1.The process of amendment of the Indian Constitution is taken from which of the
following countries? Ans-South Africa.

2.Which of the following Constitutional Amendment Act amended the age of voting from 21
to 18-Ans - 61st

Emergency Provisions

As evident from the word “emergency”, it refers to the unexpected turn of events that causes
the public authorities to take instant actions within their boundary. Human civil rights, except
Article 20 (Protection in respect of conviction for offenses) & Article 21 (Protection of life
and personal liberty) cannot be suspended. Most of the emergencies are brought about by
breaking down administrative machinery.

1.Who can declare Emergency.

Ans The president can declare Emergency Provisions

2.How many emergency provisions are there in India

The President can declare three types of emergencies —

a) National,
b) state and
c) financial emergency