Jump to content

Prime Minister of India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tarun2k (talk | contribs) at 03:09, 23 October 2008 (→List of Prime Ministers of India: improved upon the description in table). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of India
Constitution
Government
Parliament
  • Vacant
  • Utpal Kumar Singh
Law and Judiciary
Elections and Politics
Administrative divisions
Federalism
Foreign Relations
flag India portal

The Prime Minister of India is head of the Council of Ministers, appointed by the President to assist the latter in the administration of the affairs of the executive in India. The Prime Minister is responsible for the discharge of the functions and power vested in the President in terms of the Constitution of India. He is appointed by the President, being recognized as the leader of the majority party in the two Houses of the Parliament of India.

Constitutional framework and position of Prime Minister

The Constitution envisages a scheme of affairs in which the President of India is technically the head of the executive in terms of Article 53 with office of the Prime Minister as heading the Council of Ministers to assist and advise the President in the discharge of the executive power. To quote, Article 53 and 74 provide as under;

The executive powers of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution.

— Article 53(1), Constitution of India

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.

— Article 74(1), Constitution of India

The phrase act in accordance with such advice was a subject of considerable litigation and dispute in the initial days of the Indian executive but was settled by the Supreme Court of India as referring to mean that the President was bound by the advice tendered by the Prime Minister unless it was evident that the Prime Minister did not enjoy the majority support of the Parliament. [1] Since then the role of the President has been reduced to a nominal head as approving the decisions of the Prime Minister, except in certain exceptional circumstances wherein the Constitution requires the President to decide on the basis of his personal opinion, such as deciding whom to invite to form the Government after the general elections.

Typically like most parliamentary democracies where the Head of State's duties are largely ceremonial, the Prime Minister of India is the head of government and has effective responsibility for executive power. With India following a parliamentary system of government (known as the Westminster system after that of the United Kingdom), the Prime Minister is generally the leader of a party (or coalition of parties) that has a majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The Prime Minister either has to be a current member of one of the houses of Parliament, or be elected within six months of being appointed.

Role of the Prime Minister

The Prime Minister leads the functioning and exercise of authority of the Government of India. He is invited by the President as leader of the majority party in the Parliament of India to form a government at the federal level (known as Central Government in India) and exercise its powers. In practice the Prime Minister nominates the members of his Council of Ministers [2] [3] [4] to the President. He also works upon to decide a core group of Ministers (known as the Cabinet)[2] as in-charge of the important functions and ministries of the Government of India.

As the head of the government, the Prime Minister is responsible for distribution of work of the Government to various ministries and offices and in terms of the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 [5] whereunder the Prime Minister's Office [6] allocates the work to be performed by various Ministries. The work is generally allocates to the Cabinet Secretariat [7] which in turn acts as a nodal agency for the functioning of the various Ministries. While generally the entire work of the Government in divided into various Ministries, the Prime Minister may retain certain portfolios with himself.

The Prime Minister, in consultation with the Cabinet, schedules and attends the sessions of the Houses of Parliament and is required to answer the question put to him by the Members of Parliament [8] to him as the in-charge of the portfolios he holds or in his capacity as the Prime Minister of India. [9] The Prime Minister is also the ex officio Chairman of the Planning Commission of India. He also appoints the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, who is responsible for the functioning of the Commission and reports to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister represents the country in various delegations, high level meetings and international organizations that require the attendance of the highest government office [10] and also addresses to the nation on various issues of national or other importance. [11] He also has to his exclusive jurisdiction the disposal of two national funds, (i) the PM's National Relief Fund [12], and (ii) the PM's National Defence Fund [13], which he uses in his discretion to the attainment of the objectives behind the establishment of these funds.


List of Prime Ministers of India

Till date there have been 14 people who have occupied the office of the Prime Minister of India which in terms of parties they represent are as under;


  Indian National Congress   Janata Party   Janata Dal   Bharatiya Janata Party

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Date of Birth and Death Political party Birth Place Days in Office
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 1 Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru 15 August 1947 27 May 1964 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964 Indian National Congress Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 6,130
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 2 Gulzarilal Nanda File:Gulzarilal Nanda.jpg 27 May 1964 9 June 1964 * 4 July 1898 - 15 January 1998 Indian National Congress Sialkot, Punjab 13
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 3 Lal Bahadur Shastri File:LalBahadurShastri.jpg 9 June 1964 11 January 1966 ♠ 2 October 1904 - 11 January 1966 Indian National Congress Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh 581
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 4 Gulzarilal Nanda File:Gulzarilal Nanda.jpg 11 January 1966 24 January 1966 * 4 July 1898 - 15 January 1998 Indian National Congress Sialkot, Punjab 13
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 5 Indira Gandhi 24 January 1966♥ 24 March 1977 19 November 1917 - 31 October 1984 Indian National Congress Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 4,077
style="background-color: Template:Janata Party/meta/color" | 6 Morarji Desai 24 March 1977 28 July 1979 ♦ 29 February 1896 - 10 April 1995 Janata Party Valsad, Gujarat 856
style="background-color: Template:Janata Party/meta/color" | 7 Choudhary Charan Singh File:Charansing.jpg 28 July 1979 14 January 1980 ♣ 23 December 1902 - 29 May 1987 Janata Party Noorpur, Uttar Pradesh 170
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 8 Indira Gandhi 14 January 1980 ♥ 31 October 1984 ♠ 19 November 1917 - 31 October 1984 Indian National Congress Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 1,752
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 9 Rajiv Gandhi File:Rajiv Gandhi.gif 31 October 1984 2 December 1989 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991 Indian National Congress (Indira) Mumbai, Maharashtra 1,858
10 Vishwanath Pratap Singh File:Vishwanath pratap singh.jpg 2 December 1989 10 November 1990 ♣ b. 25 June 1931 Janata Dal Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 343
11 Chandra Shekhar File:Chandrashekhar.jpg 10 November 1990 21 June 1991 1 July 1927 – 8 July 2007 Samajwadi Janata Party Ibrahimpatti - Ballia, Uttar Pradesh 223
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 12 P. V. Narasimha Rao 21 June 1991 16 May 1996 28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004 Indian National Congress Karimnagar, Andra Pradesh 1,791
style="background-color: Template:Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color" | 13 Atal Behari Vajpayee File:Vajpayee.jpg 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 ♣</sup> b. 25 December 1924 Bharatiya Janata Party Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh 16
14 H. D. Deve Gowda File:DevegowdaImage.jpg 1 June 1996 21 April 1997 ♣ b. 18 May 1933 Janata Dal Hassan District, Karnataka 324
15 Inder Kumar Gujral File:Gujral(2).jpg 21 April 1997 19 March 1998 b. 4 December 1919 Janata Dal Jhelum, Punjab 332
style="background-color: Template:Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color" | 16 Atal Bihari Vajpayee File:Vajpayee.jpg 19 March 1998 22 May 2004 b. 25 December 1924 Bharatiya Janata Party Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh 2256
style="background-color: Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | 17 Dr. Manmohan Singh 22 May 2004 Incumbent b. 26 September 1932 Indian National Congress Gah, Punjab --
  • * Interim - It is debatable whether Mr. Gulzari Lal Nanda was a Prime Minister or an Acting Prime Minister. The constitution does not have a position of acting Prime Minister. Mr. Nanda was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India. In contrast, the constitution provides for an acting President who discharges the duties of a President. Hence, constitutional experts and historians now agree that Mr. Nanda is the second Prime Minister of India.
  • ♥ Returned to Office
  • ♠ Assassinated or Died in Office
  • ♣ Resigned
  • ♦ Dismissed by President following a no-confidence motion

Notes

  1. ^ "Shamsher Singh v. State of Punjab (decision of Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of India holding that President is bound by the advise of the Prime Minister)". judis.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  2. ^ a b "Prime Minister and the Cabinet Ministers". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  3. ^ "Ministers of State (Independent Charge)". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  4. ^ "Ministers of State (without Independent Charge)". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  5. ^ "(Allocation of Business) Rules 1961". cabsec.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  6. ^ "Prime Minister's Office". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  7. ^ "Cabinet Secretariat,Govt.of India". cabsec.gov.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  8. ^ "Member of Parliament - Wikipedia". en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  9. ^ "PM's answers to Parliamentary Questions". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  10. ^ "Recent Visit of the Prime Minister". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  11. ^ "Recent National Messages of the PM". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  12. ^ "PM's National Relief Fund". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  13. ^ "PM's National Defence Fund". pmindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2008-06-05.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prime_Minister_of_India&oldid=247095676"