The office of prime minister is the one of the powerful office in India. A prime minister is the leader of the executive branch and the real custodian of executive authority. He is the chief advisor to the president. The prime minister is the head of the cabinet under the constitution of India and advisor for them. He is the leader of the party with a majority in Lok Sabha or parliament. The prime minister works towards the passing, the important bills in the parliament with the cooperation with others. Prime minister can elect or dismiss members of the cabinet from various post allocated to them. Overall, the prime minister has a lot of powers and responsibility. In this article, we will be reading How a Prime Minister is Elected through PM Elections in India and his powers, tenure, eligibility and many others responsibilities the prime ministers have in his shoulders so let’s begin.
Eligibility of a Person Should Possess to Become a Prime Minister
- A person should be a citizen of India
- A person should be a member of either of the 2 houses Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha
- Completed 25 years of age or more for a member of Lok sabha, 30 years of age or more for a member of Rajya Sabha.
- A person cannot become the prime minister of India if he/she holds a profitable position in state or central government or even a local body or authority which is under state or central government.
Office of Prime Minister of India: The prime minister is regarded as the head of the designated council of ministers. He/She will look after the work done by the council of ministers. The meetings of the cabinet are held in PMO’s cabinet room.The office of prime minister of India is located at South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India-110011.
Tenure of a Prime Minister: As far as the term of PM goes, the prime minister can hold the office as long as he is in power. Unlike the president term which is fixed for 5 years. The full term of a prime minister is 5 years. If the political party votes in his favor, then the prime minister can continue his term. A prime minister can lose his term even before his term if he loses the vote of confidence in the lower. So a prime minister can remain in power until he enjoys the confidence in Loksabha. Also, there is no fixed retirement age of prime minister.
How a Prime Minister is Elected Through PM Elections in India
The prime minister is appointed by the president of India. The prime minister is elected by the elected members of Lok Sabha among themselves. If the PM candidate gets more than 50% of votes i.e: 50+1% (272+ Parliamentary seats in this case) he becomes the prime minister (PM) of the country. The party who gets the maximum number of seats in Lok Sabha with or without alliance and usually the leader of the party is appointed as the prime minister of India. A president plays a little role and he appoints the leader of such a political party as the prime minister. If the party which gets the majority of seat can’t decide their leader. Then the president can play his role in the appointment and can appoint any member of either house as a prime minister. A prime minister is the leader of the house which he is a member. In simple words it can also be said as the people vote their MP’s in General Elections to a political party or an independent candidate, the party which got majority of seats that is more than fifty percent of total, then the prime minister shall be from the same party only usually.
Powers of a Prime Minister in India
Appointment of Council of Ministers: The prime minister is the head of a council of ministers position of prime minister is stated as ‘First among Equals’ in cabinet meetings. If the prime minister, in case of death or resignation then the entire cabinet has to resign. If a certain minister of his concerned department is not maintaining his responsibility, then the prime minister has the power to hand over the resignation of the head of a department. All the council of ministers directly reports to the prime minister. The council of ministers also includes the Cabinet Ministers under which the Ministry of Finance, Defence Ministry, Home Minister and many more are there.
The leader of the House: A prime minister is the leader of the house to which he belongs. It can be either look Sabha or Rajya Sabha. He can recommend dissolution of the Lok Sabha to the president anytime. He can announce the good government policies on the floor of the house.
Channel of Communication: The prime minister is the principal channel of communication between the council of ministers and president. All the council of ministers reports to a prime minister and the PM directly reports the various policies to the president. He advises the president in regard to the appointment of a chairman of the election commission, attorney general of India, finance committee members and chairman and chairman of UPSC.
A Spokesperson in International Meetings: In meetings with foreign leaders and international affairs, the prime minister plays a major role in shaping policies with other countries and developing a healthy relationship in directing the foreign policies.
Other Powers of the PMO
- Head of Ministry of personal, public Grievances and pensions
- Head of NITI Aayog
- Head of Department of Atomic Energy
- Head in charge of Department of Space
- Chief spokesman of the Union government
- The leader of a party in power and political head of the services
If you have any further doubts regarding the elections, roles of the leaders or ministers, you can simply leave a comment in the comments section, and we will try to assist you sooner.
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