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VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA

• Article 63- There shall be a Vice President of India.

• Article 66- Election of the Vice President of India.
• The Vice-President is not a member of either House of Parliament or of a
House of a Legislature of any state. If a member of Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha or
of a House of a Legislature of any state is elected as Vice-President, he is
deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date he/she enters his
office as Vice-President.

Election of the Vice-President (Article 66)

• The Vice-President is elected by an electoral college consisting of all members of

both Houses of Parliament (including the nominated members).
• The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation
by means of single transferable vote and voting is done by secret ballot.

Note: - Members of Legislative Assemblies of the states do not participate in the

election of Vice-President.

*Comparison between electoral college of President & Vice-President

President Vice-President
Members who participate i) ii) Elected MPs i) All elected & nominated
iii) Elected MLAs of MPs only
States
Elected MLAs
from Delhi &
Puducherry
Members who don’t i) ii) Nominated MPs, i) All MLAs from States
participate MLAs legislative assembly
Members of (both elected &
State Legislative nominate)
Councils ii) Members of State
Legislative Councils

Qualification (Article 66), Conditions & Oath (Article 69)

• Eligibility - (a) Citizen of India

(b) 35 years
(c) Is eligible for election as a member of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
• Shouldn’t hold any office of profit.
• The nomination of a candidate for election must be subscribed by at least 20
electors as proposers and 20 electors as seconders.
• A security amount of Rs. 15,000/- needs to deposit in the Reserve Bank of India.
• All the disputes regarding the election of the Vice President of India are looked
after by the Supreme Court of India.

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• He is elected for the period of 5 years and he can be re-elected for any
number of times.
• He takes OATH in the presence of the President of India.
• He gets a monthly salary of Rs 4,00,000/- month per month and he gets 50% as
pension after retirement.
• He can give his resignation to the president of India.
• He can be removed from his office by the resolution of the Rajya Sabha
passed by an absolute majority (i.e. a majority of the total members of the
House) and if it is agreed by the Lok Sabha the Vice President is removed from
his office.
• The procedure of the impeachment is not required in case of the Vice
President of India.
• The Vice President of India unlike the President can hold the office beyond his
term of 5 years unless its successor takes charge.

Powers of the Vice President of India

• The Vice President of India is the ex officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha but
since he is not the member of the Rajya Sabha he cannot vote.
• He acts as the president of India in case of the death, resignation, removal or
illness of the President of India during that time he is not present in the Rajya
Sabha and he gets the salary of the President of India.
• All the bills, resolution and motions can be taken in the Rajya Sabha after the
consent of the Vice President of India.

VICE PRESIDENTS OF INDIA

1. Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan May 13, 1952 to May 12, 1962

2. Dr. Zakir Hussain May 13, 1962 to May 12, 1967

3. Varahagiri Venkata Giri May 13, 1967 to May 3, 1969

4. Gopal Swarup Pathak August 31, 1969 to August 30, 1974

5. BasappaDanappaJatti August 31, 1974 to August 30, 1979

6. Muhammad Hidayat Ullah August 31, 1979 to August 30, 1984

7. Ramaswamy Venkataraman August 31, 1984 to July 27, 1987

8. Shankar Dayal Sharma September 3, 1987 to July 24, 1992

9. Kocheril Raman Narayanan August 21, 1992 to July 24, 1997

10. Krishan Kant August 21, 1997 to July 27, 2002

11. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat August 19, 2002 to August 11, 2007
11th August 2007 to August
12. Mohd. Hamid Ansari 11,2017

13. M. Venkaiah Naidu 11 August 2017-

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Prime Minister

• According to the Constitution of India the Prime Minister is the real head of the
country or the real executive authority (de facto executive).
• The constitution does not specify any specific procedure for appointment of Prime
Minister, except that he shall be appointed by President as mentioned in the
article 75.
• Hence, he is appointed by convention of parliamentary system of
government where the President appoints the leader of majority party in the Lok
Sabha as Prime Minister.
• President also has the personal discretion when no party is in clear majority
(in such a situation, he invites the leader of largest party or coalition as a Prime
Minister and asks him to seek a vote of confidence in a month) and or when
the Prime Minister in the office dies and there is no obvious successor. But,
when the party elects its new leader, the President has to appoint him as a new
Prime Minister.
• A person who is appointed as Prime Minister but is not a member of either house
of the parliament has to become the member of the either house within six
months. A Prime Minister should not be necessarily from Lok Sabha & can be a
member of any house of the parliament.
• The Prime Minister of India gets the salary of the member of the Parliament.
• The Prime Minister of India is the ex officio Chairman of the NITI Aayog,
National Development Council, National integration council and Inter
State Council.
• The Prime Minister of India takes OATH in the presence of the President of
India.
• The Prime Minister holds office during the pleasure of President (means as long
as he enjoys majority support in Lok Sabha).

POWERS OF THE PRIME MINISTER

(a) In relation to the Council of Ministers

• PM prepares the list of council of ministers. The President can’t drop any name
from this list. He also allocates various departments to ministers & can advise the
President to dismiss a minister.
• PM presides over the meetings of the Cabinet. He also supervises and coordinates
the working of various departments.
• PM can bring about the collapse of Council of ministers by resigning from the
office.

(b) In relation to the President

• He is a link between the council of ministers and the President.

• He advises the President on the issue of making important appointments such
as Attorney General, CAG, Chairman & members of UPSC, Election
Commissioners etc.
• He recommends the President to declare emergency on the grounds of war,
external aggression and armed rebellion.

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• He gives advice the President of India to declare the State emergency if any state
is not working according to the provision of Constitution.

(c) In relation to the Parliament

• He advices the president to summon or prorogue the sessions of the Parliament

or he can recommend for dissolution of Lok Sabha.
• He plays a leading role in the making of all the policy statements as also in the
preparation of the annual budget.

(d) Other Powers & functions

• He is the Leader of the nation, leader of the party in the power & Political head of
the services.
• He is Chief spokesman of the Union government & crisis manager-in-chief during
emergencies.
• He plays an important role in shaping foreign policy of the nation.
• He is the Chairman of various bodies such as NITI Aayog, Inter-state
Council, National Integration Council, National Development Council &
National Water Resources Council.
LIST OF PRIME MINISTERS OF INDIA

Name Tenure Party

Jawaharlal Nehru August 15, 1947 - May 27, 1964 Congress
Gulzari Lal Nanda May 27, 1964 - June 9, 1964 Congress
Lal Bahadur Shastri June 9, 1964 - January 11, 1966 Congress
Gulzari Lal Nanda January 11, 1966 - January 24, 1966 Congress
Indira Gandhi January 24, 1966 - March 24, 1977 Congress
Morarji Desai March 24, 1977 - July 28, 1979 Janata Party
Charan Singh July 28, 1979 - January 14, 1980 Janata Party
Indira Gandhi January 14, 1980 - October 31, 1984 Congress (I)
Rajiv Gandhi October 31, 1984 - December 2, 1989 Congress (I)
V.P Singh December 2, 1989 - November 10, 1990 Janta Dal
P. V. Narasimha Rao June 21, 1991- May 16, 1996 Congress (I)
Atal Bihari Vajpayee May 16, 1996 - June 1, 1996 Bharatiya Janata
Party
H. D. Deve Gowda June 1, 1996 - April 21, 1997 Janata Dal
Inder Kumar Gujral April 21, 1997 - March 19, 1998 Janata Dal
Bharatiya Janata
Atal Bihari Vajpayee March 19, 1998 - May 22, 2004 Party
Dr. Manmohan Singh May 22, 2004 - 2014 INC
Bharatiya Janata
Narendra Modi 26 May 2014- Party

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NOTE:
• Pt. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru remains the longest serving Prime Minister of India.
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee holds the office for the shortest duration as the Prime Miniter
of India.
• Lal Bahadur Shastri was the only Prime Minsiter of India who died during his
tenure outside India at Tashkent in Uzbekistan (former USSR).

CENTRAL COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

• Article 74 of the Constitution of India says that there will be a Council of Ministers
with the prime Minister with the main aim of advising the president in the
exercise of his functions.
• The Council of Ministers are divided into 3 categories i.e. Cabinet Minister,
Minister of State & Deputy Ministers. Ranks, emoluments & political
importance of these ministers vary as per their respective roles & importance.

Cabinet Minister
• The Cabinet ministers are heads of important ministries like Finance, Home, and
Defence etc.
• The Cabinet minister heads the ministry and is given the independent charge.
• A Cabinet Minister attends the meeting of the Cabinet on his own rights.
• He plays an important role in deciding policies.

Minister of State
• The minister of state can be given the independent charge of the
Ministry/department or can be attached to the Cabinet Minister.
• In case of independent charge they perform independent functions & powers in
relation to their ministry/department.
• In case of attachment to a Cabinet minister, their main work is to assist the
Cabinet Minister in doing his work. Hence, they work under overall guidance &
supervision of Cabinet minister.
• He cannot attend the Cabinet meeting on his own right but only attends the
meeting when he is asked to attend it.

Deputy Ministers
• These ministers are attached to Cabinet Ministers/Minsters of State.
• They are not members of the Cabinet & do not attend Cabinet meetings.

Parliamentary Secretaries
• They have no department under their control.
• They are attached to Senior Ministers & assist them in discharging their duties.
• The appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries has repeatedly been challenged in
courts on ground of violation of ceiling on number of ministers in Parliament or
State Legislature as per 91st Amendment Act 2003 & also on the question of
‘Office of Profit’.

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Cabinet
• The word cabinet did not find mention in original constitution.
• Later it was inserted in the year 1978 by the 44th Constitutional Amendment
act via article 352.
• Article 352 defines cabinet as “the council consisting of the Prime Minsters &
other ministers of cabinet rank appointed under article 75”.

Role of Cabinet
• It is highest decision-making body.
• It is advisory body to the President and its advice is binding on him.
• It is the highest body in policy formulation, decision making, crisis management &
executive functions.
• It also exercises control over higher appointments.

Kitchen Cabinet
• It is a small informal body consisting Prime Ministers & few of his
trustworthy cabinet ministers & influential friends & family members,
whom he can trust & discuss every problem.
• This informal body is considered as a real centre of power.
• It is also known as ‘Inner Cabinet’.

Constitutional provisions regarding Council of Ministers

(a) Article 74

• There shall be a council of ministers to aid and advice the President, who shall
exercise his functions, in accordance to such advice. However, the President may
require the council to reconsider such advice.
• Advice tendered by a minister cannot be questioned into any court of India.
(Unlike Britain where every order of the King needs to be countersigned by a
minister and a minister would be liable in the court for such orders but no such
provision is there in Indian constitution. In India there is no provision of legal
responsibility of a minister).

(b) Article 75
• Prime Minister shall be appointed by President & other Ministers shall be
appointed by President on the advice of the Prime Minister. (President can
only appoint those persons as ministers which are recommended by
the Prime Minister).
• According to the 91st Amendment Act 2003 the council of ministers in
centre and the state cannot be more than 15% of the total strength of
Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. This amendment also state that a Member of
Parliament, if disqualified on the ground of defection shall also be
disqualified to be appointed as a minister.
• Oath of office a minister is administered by the President.
• A minister shall hold the office during the pleasure of the President. (The
president can remove a minister on the advice of Prime Minister. This
provision of the constitution ensures Individual Responsibility of a
minister)

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• The Council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok

Sabha. (This provision of Indian constitution ensures collective
responsibility of council of ministers .It means that all the ministers own
joint responsibility to the Lok Sabha as they sail and sink together. When
Lok Sabha passes a no confidence motion, all the ministers have to
resign. Also the Council of Minister can advise the President to dissolve the
Lok Sabha. Collective responsibility also means that Cabinet Decisions
are binding on all ministers, even if they do not agree with it. A minister
may be asked to resign in case he is not prepared to defend the Cabinet
decision.)
• A minister who is not a Member of Parliament for any period of six
consecutive months shall cease to be a minister.
• Parliament will determine the salary and allowance of ministers.

(c) Article 77

• It deals with conduct of business of govt. Of India as all executive actions of Govt.
Of India are taken in the name of President.
• It also deals with orders & instructions and transaction of business of Govt. Of
India.

(d) Article 78

• Article 78 specifically lists down the duties of the Prime Minister:

1. 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;

2. to furnish such information relating the administration of the affairs of the Union
on and proposals for legislation as the President may call for; and

3. 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.

(e) Article 88

• It deals with right of a minister to take part in proceeding or to speak in either

house/joint sitting of Parliament.

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