Prime Minister and Council of Ministers

Prerequisites

• Powers of the President — Art 74 binds the President to the advice of this Council.
• Parliament — the Lok Sabha to which the Council is collectively responsible.
• Preamble and Salient Features — the parliamentary form of government borrowed from Britain.

The Hook: A Minister from Bilaspur

Why it matters: The 91st Amendment’s 15% cap, the six-month rule for non-members, collective vs individual responsibility, and “Cabinet” vs “Council of Ministers” are evergreen Prelims topics. Mains asks about the PM’s position (“first among equals”?) and about cabinet government.

The Prime Minister (प्रधानमंत्री)

Appointment

• Art 75(1): The President appoints the Prime Minister; other ministers are appointed by the President on the PM’s advice.
• The Constitution prescribes no specific procedure. By convention, the President appoints the leader of the majority party or coalition in the Lok Sabha.
• When no party has a clear majority, the President uses situational discretion and may ask the appointee to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha within a time limit.
• A person who is not a member of either House can be appointed PM, but must become a member within six months (S.P. Anand v. H.D. Deve Gowda, 1996).
• The PM may be a member of either House. Indira Gandhi (1966) and Manmohan Singh (2004–14) were members of the Rajya Sabha while serving as PM.

Oath, Term and Salary

• Oath of office and secrecy administered by the President (Art 75(4), Third Schedule).
• No fixed term: holds office during the pleasure of the President (Art 75(2)), which in practice means as long as he retains the confidence of the Lok Sabha.
• Salary and allowances are determined by Parliament (Art 75(6)). The PM gets the salary and allowances of an MP plus a sumptuary allowance.

Powers and Functions

The Council of Ministers (मंत्रिपरिषद): Articles 74, 75 and 77

Article 75 at a glance

With 543 Lok Sabha seats, the 15% cap allows at most 81 ministers including the PM. The 2024 Council (72 including the PM) was within it.

• Art 77: All executive action is expressed to be taken in the President’s name; the President makes rules for the transaction and allocation of business among ministers (the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 and (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961).
• Art 88: Every minister has the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of either House and joint sittings, but can vote only in the House of which he is a member.

Composition: three tiers

June 2024 swearing-in: 30 Cabinet Ministers, 5 Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 36 Ministers of State, plus the PM, for a Council of 72. Sizes change with reshuffles, so quote these figures with their date.

Cabinet vs Council of Ministers

Cabinet committees are extra-constitutional, set up under the Transaction of Business Rules: for example the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs. Most are chaired by the PM. An informal inner circle of the PM’s closest advisers is called the “kitchen cabinet”.

Collective and Individual Responsibility

flowchart TD
    A["Art 75(3): Council collectively
responsible to the Lok Sabha"] --> B["Lok Sabha passes a no-confidence motion
or rejects a confidence motion"]
    B --> C["Entire Council must resign
(including Rajya Sabha ministers)"]
    A --> D["Cabinet secrecy and solidarity:
every minister must publicly defend
Cabinet decisions or resign"]
    E["Art 75(2): individual responsibility"] --> F["President can remove a minister
on the PM's advice"]

• Collective responsibility (सामूहिक उत्तरदायित्व): ministers “swim or sink together”. A minister who disagrees with a Cabinet decision must either support it or resign.
• A no-confidence motion is not mentioned in the Constitution; it is moved under the Lok Sabha’s Rules of Procedure and needs the support of at least 50 members for admission. It can be moved only in the Lok Sabha.
• Governments that lost a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha: V.P. Singh (1990), H.D. Deve Gowda (1997) and A.B. Vajpayee (1999, by one vote).
• Individual responsibility: each minister holds office at the President’s pleasure, which in practice means the PM’s pleasure.
• No legal responsibility: in Britain a minister countersigns the Crown’s orders; in India there is no such requirement, and courts cannot inquire into ministerial advice (Art 74(2)).

Prime Ministers: Records Worth Knowing

Analysis for Mains: Is Cabinet Government Becoming Prime Ministerial?

• Arguments that it is: large mandates concentrate power in the PM; the PMO has become a parallel power centre; the PM controls appointments through the ACC; election campaigns are leader-centred.
• Checks that remain: coalition partners (1989–2014, and again since 2024 the ruling party relies on allies for a majority); parliamentary questions and committees; judicial review; federalism and strong Chief Ministers; a free press.
• Constitutional anchor: Arts 74 and 75 make the Council, not the PM alone, the advising body, and collective responsibility to the Lok Sabha is the ultimate check.

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. The ceiling on the size of the Union Council of Ministers was introduced by the ______ Amendment Act, ______.
2. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the ______.
3. The only Article of the Constitution that uses the word “Cabinet” is Article ______.

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements:

1. The total number of ministers in the Union Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, cannot exceed 15% of the total strength of both Houses of Parliament.
2. A member disqualified under the Tenth Schedule is also disqualified from being appointed a minister for the period of disqualification.
3. A person who is not a member of Parliament can be appointed a minister for up to six months.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 and 2 only
• (b) 2 and 3 only
• (c) 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Under Article 78, which of the following is a duty of the Prime Minister?

• (a) To preside over joint sittings of Parliament
• (b) To communicate to the President all decisions of the Council of Ministers on the administration of the Union and proposals for legislation
• (c) To administer the oath of office to Union ministers
• (d) To appoint the Attorney General

Q3. Match List I with List II:

• (a) A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4
• (b) A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
• (c) A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4
• (d) A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2

Q4. Which of the following Prime Ministers lost a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha?

1. V.P. Singh
2. H.D. Deve Gowda
3. A.B. Vajpayee (1999)
4. Charan Singh

Select the correct answer:

• (a) 1 and 2 only
• (b) 1, 2 and 3 only
• (c) 2, 3 and 4 only
• (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. (150–200 words) “The Prime Minister is the keystone of the cabinet arch” (Lord Morley). Examine the position of the Prime Minister in India’s parliamentary system.

Q2. (60 words) Distinguish between the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet.

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• The Attorney General — the Union’s top law officer, who also sits in Parliament without a vote
• Parliament — no-confidence motions and parliamentary control of the executive
• State Executive and Legislature — the Chief Minister and the State Council of Ministers
• Public Administration — the PMO, Cabinet Secretariat and the civil services