CHIEF MINISTER

The Chief Minister of a state is a Constitutional post under Article 164 of our Constitution. Article 1G4 states - Every state shall have a Chief Minister. The Chief Minister is the real head of the state Government, whereas the Governor is the nominal/symbolic head of the state government.

Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor of the state. He is affirmed the oath of office by the Governor. If the Chief Minister wants to resign, he submits his resignation to the Governor. The resignation of Chief Minister means the resignation of the whole state council of ministers.

Tenure

The Tenure of a Chief Minister is of 5 years but it is not fixed. He holds the office till he has the majority support of the Vidhan Sabha. The moment he loses the majority support of the Vidhan Sabha, he has to resign.

Eligibility

Any Indian citizen above the age of 25 years and a member of the either house of state legislature can be appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor. The Governor can also appoint a person as the Chief Minister who is not a member of the either house of state legislature but in that case, the Chief Minister must secure the membership of either house of state legislature within G months of his appointment to continue on the post.

Election of Chief Minister

The Chief Minister is elected by the members of the Vidhan Sabha having majority in the Vidhan Sabha and is appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor of the state.

The Governor is bound by the Constitution to act on the advice of the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister can object to any decision taken alone by the Governor.

State Council of Ministers

Firstly, the Governor administers the oath of office to the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister then forms his Council of Ministers. It is the right of the Chief Minister to make the Council of Ministers of his choice.

1. The Ministers are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.

2. Portfolios i,e, the ministries to ministers are allotted by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.

3. The Portfolio of a minister can be changed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.

4. A minister can be dismissed from the State Council of Ministers by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.

Qualification to be a Minister

The Governor can appoint a person who is also a member of either house of the state legislature as a Minister in the State Council of Ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister. The Governor can also appoint, on the advice of the Chief Minister, a person as a minister who is not a member of either house of the state legislature but in that case, he has to attain membership of either house of the state legislature within G months of his appointment to continue as a minister.

Structure of State Council of Ministers

It is the right of the Chief Minister to decide how many tiers of State Council of Ministers he wants to make. He can make one tier, two tier or three tier of the State Council of Ministers.

Generally State Council of Ministers is of three tier as:

(a) Cabinet Ministers – They are in charge of their particular ministry

(b) Ministers of State – They assist cabinet minister of their particular ministry

(c) Deputy Ministers – They assist minister of state of their particular ministry.

Maximum and Minimum Size of State Council of Ministers

By the 91st Constitution Amendment Act 2003, the maximum size of the State Council of Ministers cannot be more than 15% of the total strength of the Vidhan Sabha (e,g, - the strength of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is 230, so in MP, the maximum size of state council of Ministers including Chief Minister cannot be more than 15% of 230, i,e 34)

The minimum size of the State Council of Ministers cannot be less than 12 (including the Chief Minister). However, the Supreme Court ruled that if the size of the State Council of ministers is less than 12, then that too is not unconstitutional.

Difference between State Cabinet and State Council of Ministers

State Cabinet = C.M. + State Cabinet Ministers only

State Council of Ministers = C.M. + All Ministers

The State Cabinet is a smaller body consisting of the Chief Minister + Cabinet Ministers only whereas the State Council of Ministers is a bigger body consisting of the Chief Minister + all ministers. All important decisions are taken by the State Cabinet and not by the State Council of Ministers.

The Resignation of the Chief Minister is the resignation of the whole State Council of Ministers.

Note:

1. In India, we do notice the post of Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Chief Ministers. Mr. Charan Singh, Jagjivan Ram, Devi Lal, Lal Krishan Adwani, etc have held the post of the Deputy Prime Ministers. Presently Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have 2 Deputy Chief Ministers. Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir have 1 Deputy Chief Minister. Many states too have 1 Deputy Chief Minister.

2. There are no provisions of post of the Deputy Prime Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister in our Constitution. So, these posts are not constitutional posts. Infact, the post of Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Chief Minister are extra-constitutional post.

3. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Deputy Prime Minister is just like one of the Union Cabinet Ministers in a petition filed to declare the appointment of Shri. Jagjivan Ram and Charan Singh as the Deputy Prime Ministers in Moraraji Desai’s Union Council of Ministers in 1977 as there is no provision of a Deputy Prime Minister in our Constitution. The same lies with the Deputy Chief Minister

4. Mrs. Sucheta Kriplani was the first woman Chief Minister in India. She was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963-1967.

NOTE:

In the last Legislative Assembly elections of West Bengal held in April 2021, Miss Mamta Banerjee could not win the legislative assembly election from Nandigram Constituency but she was appointed as the Chief Minister by the then Governor Jagdeep Dhankar. She again contested elections of Vidhan Sabha from the Bhawanipur Constituency held on 30th Sep 2021 and won the bi-election and is continuing as the chief minister of West Bengal.

Similar is the case of Mr. Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand who lost Assembly elections in March 2022 from Khatima seat but was appointed as Chief Minister and later won in by-election from the Champawat Vidhan Sabha constituency and is continuing as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

Longest Serving Chief Ministers of India

1. Pawan Kumar Chamling - Sikkim- 24 Years 1G5 Days

2. Naveen Patnaik - Odisha -24 Years 99 Days

3. Jyoti Basu - West Bengal - 23 Years 137 Days

4. Gegong Apang -Arunachal Pradesh - 22 Years 250 Days

5. Lal Thanhwala - Mizoram -22 Years G0 Days

6. Virbhadra Singh - Himachal Pradesh- 21 Years 13 Days

7. Manik Sarkar - Tripura - 19 Years 3G3 Days

8. Nitish Kumar - Bihar - 19 Years. Still continuing as chief minister of Bihar