Prime Minister of India

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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.

Contents 1 Constitutional framework and position of Prime Minister 2 Role of the Prime Minister 3 List of Prime Ministers of India 4 Notes 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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
1	Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru		15 August 1947	27 May 1964	14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964	Indian National Congress	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
2	Gulzarilal Nanda		27 May 1964	9 June 1964 *	4 July 1898 - 15 January 1998	Indian National Congress	Sialkot, Punjab
3	Lal Bahadur Shastri		9 June 1964	11 January 1966 ♠	2 October 1904 - 11 January 1966	Indian National Congress	Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh
4	Gulzarilal Nanda		11 January 1966	24 January 1966 *	4 July 1898 - 15 January 1998	Indian National Congress	Sialkot, Punjab
5	Indira Gandhi		24 January 1966♥	24 March 1977	19 November 1917 - 31 October 1984	Indian National Congress	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
6	Morarji Desai		24 March 1977	28 July 1979 ♦	29 February 1896 - 10 April 1995	Janata Party	Valsad, Gujarat
7	Choudhary Charan Singh		28 July 1979	14 January 1980 ♣	23 December 1902 - 29 May 1987	Janata Party	Noorpur, Uttar Pradesh
8	Indira Gandhi		14 January 1980 ♥	31 October 1984 ♠	19 November 1917 - 31 October 1984	Indian National Congress	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
9	Rajiv Gandhi		31 October 1984	2 December 1989	20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991	Indian National Congress (Indira)	Mumbai, Maharashtra
10	Vishwanath Pratap Singh		2 December 1989	10 November 1990 ♣	b. 25 June 1931	Janata Dal	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
11	Chandra Shekhar		10 November 1990	21 June 1991	1 July 1927 – 8 July 2007	Samajwadi Janata Party	Ibrahimpatti - Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
12	P. V. Narasimha Rao		21 June 1991	16 May 1996	28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004	Indian National Congress	Karimnagar, Andra Pradesh
13	Atal Behari Vajpayee		16 May 1996	1 June 1996 ♣	b. 25 December 1924	Bharatiya Janata Party	Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
14	H. D. Deve Gowda		1 June 1996	21 April 1997 ♣	b. 18 May 1933	Janata Dal	Hassan District, Karnataka
15	Inder Kumar Gujral		21 April 1997	19 March 1998	b. 4 December 1919	Janata Dal	Jhelum, Punjab
16	Atal Bihari Vajpayee		19 March 1998	22 May 2004	b. 25 December 1924	Bharatiya Janata Party	Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
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

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Presidents of India
• Deputy Prime Minister of India

[edit] External links

• The Prime Minister of India (Official site)
• Former Prime Ministers of India (Official site)

v • d • e Prime Ministers of India Jawaharlal Nehru · Gulzarilal Nanda · Lal Bahadur Shastri · Indira Gandhi · Morarji Desai · Choudhary Charan Singh · Rajiv Gandhi · Vishwanath Pratap Singh · Chandra Shekhar · P.V. Narasimha Rao · Atal Bihari Vajpayee · H.D. Deve Gowda · Inder Kumar Gujral · Manmohan Singh