CBSE Term II Political Science Class 11th
The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers have
support of the majority in the Lok Sabha and they are the real
executive. In most of the cases the President has to follow the
advice of the Council of Ministers.
Discretionary Powers of President
Constitutionally, the President has the right to be informed of
all matters and deliberations (discussions) of the Council of
Ministers. The Prime Minister is obliged (required) to furnish
all the information that the President may call for.
Besides this, there are three situations where President
exercises his discretionary powers
(i) When the President thinks that the advice rendered to him
has certain flaws or legal breakdown or it is not in the
interests of the country, the President can ask the
Council of Ministers to reconsider the decision.
However, if the Council of Ministers send back the
same advice, then the President would be bound to
consider that advice or decision.
(ii) The President also has a veto power by which he can
withhold or refuse to give assent to Bills passed by the
Parliament other than Money Bill. Every bill passed by
the Parliament goes to the President for his assent to
become a law.
The President can send the bill back to the Parliament
for reconsideration, and if the Parliament passes the
same bill again and sends it back to the President, then
the president is bound to give assent to the bill, as the
veto power is limited.
The President can just keep the bill pending with him
without any time limit and enjoys informal power to
use this veto in effective manner which is referred to
as Pocket Veto.
(iii) In a situation after the election where no leader has
acquired majority in the Lok Sabha to form government,
then the President exercises his discretion in judging
who may have the support of the majority or who can
actually form and run the government.
However, this discretion comes out of political
circumstances. In ordinary circumstances, if the
Council of Ministers are removed as they depend on
the support of the majority in legislature, then the
President has the power to make a choice in appointing
the Prime Minister to run the government of the
country.
Vice-President
The Vice-President is elected for five-years. The only
difference between his election and that of the President is
that representatives of State Legislatures are not included in
the electoral college. The Vice-President may be removed
from his office by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a
majority and agreed to it by the Lok Sabha.
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When the President’s office becomes vacant due to death,
resignation, expulsion by impeachment, or other factors, the
(removal). The Vice-President acts as the President only until
a new President is elected. BD Jatti acted as President on
the death of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed until a new President
was elected. Vice-President serves as the ex-officio Chairman
of the Rajya Sabha.
Prime Minister
As the head of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister
becomes the most important functionary of the government
in our country. In a Parliamentary system, it is essential for
the Prime Minister to enjoy the support of the majority in
the Lok Sabha.
However, the Prime Minister loses his office if the majority
is lost. Formally, a leader who has the support of majority is
appointed by the President as Prime Minister and then the
Prime Minister decides the Council of Ministers.
The Prime Minister and all the Ministers have to be
members of the Parliament and in case someone becomes
the Prime Minister or minister without being an MP, such
person needs to get elected to the Parliament within a period
of six months.
President’s Role in Choosing the Prime Minister
After 1977, India’s party politics grew more competitive and
there have been numerous instances in which no single
political party has held a clear majority in the Lok Sabha. In
such circumstances, what does the President do? In the March
1998 elections, no political party or coalition received a
majority. The BJP and its partners won 251 seats, falling short
of a majority by 21 votes. President KR Narayanan followed a
rigorous method.
Powers and Functions of Prime Minister
In India, the Prime Minister enjoys a pre-eminent place in
the government by following ways:
l
The allocation of ranks and portfolios to the ministers is
done by the Prime Minister depending upon the seniority
and political importance. The ranks of Cabinet Minister or
Minister of State or Deputy Minister are assigned by the
Prime Minister and the same is done by the Chief Minister
in the state level government.
l
The Council of Ministers comes into existence only after the
Prime Minister has taken oath of office, hence the Council of
Ministers cannot exist without the Prime Minister.
l
The death or resignation of the Prime Minister
automatically dissolves the Council of Ministers but the
death, dismissal, resignation of minister only creates a
ministerial vacancy.
l
The Prime Minister acts as a link between the Council of
Ministers on one hand and the President and Parliament
together on the other hand.