Prime Minister of India

The Prime minister of India () is the chief executive officer of the Government of India. The prime minister leads the executive branch of the union government and chairs the Council of Ministers. It is the third highest office of political authority in the Republic of India. The current prime minister is Narendra Modi, who has held the premiership since 2014.
The prime minister is appointed by the president of India; however the prime minister has to enjoy the confidence of the majority of Lok Sabha members, who are directly elected every five years, lest the prime minister shall resign. The prime minister can be a member of the Lok Sabha or of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament. The prime minister unilaterally controls the selection and dismissal of members of the Council of Minister; and allocation of posts to members within the government. The council, which is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha as per Article 75(3), assists the president regarding the operations under the latter's powers; however, by the virtue of Article 74 of the Constitution, such 'aid and advice' tendered by the council is binding. The prime minister ranks third in the Indian order of precedence.
The longest-serving prime minister was Jawaharlal Nehru, also the first prime minister, whose rule lasted 16 years and 286 days. His premiership was followed by Lal Bahadur Shastri's short tenure and Indira Gandhi's 11- and 4-year-long tenures, both politicians belonging to the Indian National Congress. After Indira Gandhi's assassination, her son Rajiv took charge until 1989, when a decade with six unstable governments began. This was followed by the full terms of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, and Narendra Modi. Modi is the 14th and current prime minister of India, serving since 26 May 2014.
Origins and history
India follows a parliamentary system in which the prime minister is the presiding head of the government and chief of the executive of the government. In such systems, the head of state, or, the head of state's official representative (i.e., the monarch, president, or governor-general) usually holds a purely ceremonial position and acts--on most matters--only on the advice of the prime minister.
The prime minister--if they are not already--must become a member of parliament within six months of beginning his/her tenure. A prime minister is expected to work with other central ministers to ensure the passage of bills by the parliament.
History
1947-1984
Since 1947, there have been 14 different prime ministers. The first few decades after 1947 saw the Indian National Congress' (INC) almost complete domination over the political map of India. India's first prime minister--Jawaharlal Nehru--took oath on 15 August 1947. Nehru went on to serve as prime minister for 17 consecutive years, winning four general elections in the process. His tenure ended in May 1964, on his death. After the death of Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri--a former home minister and a leader of the Congress party--ascended to the position of prime minister. Shastri's tenure saw the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Shashtri subsequently died of a reported heart attack in Tashkent, after signing the Tashkent Declaration.
After Shastri, Indira Gandhi--Nehru's daughter--was elected as the country's first woman prime minister. Indira's first term in office lasted 11 years, in which she took steps such as nationalisation of banks; end of allowances and political posts, which were received by members of the royal families of the erstwhile princely states of British India. In addition, events such as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971; the establishment of a sovereign Bangladesh; accession of Sikkim to India, through a referendum in 1975; and India's first nuclear test in Pokhran occurred during Indira's first term. In 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed--on Indira's advice--imposed a state of emergency, therefore, bestowing the government with the power to rule by decree, the period is known for human right violations.
After widespread protests, the emergency was lifted in 1977, and a general election was to be held.
All of the political parties of the opposition--after the conclusion of the emergency--fought together against the Congress, under the umbrella of the Janata Party, in the general election of 1977, and were successful in defeating the Congress. Subsequently, Morarji Desai--a former deputy prime minister--became the first non-Congress prime minister of India. The government of prime minister Desai was composed of groups with opposite ideologies, in which unity and co-ordination were difficult to maintain. Ultimately, after two and a half years as PM; on 28 July 1979, Morarji tendered his resignation to the president; and his government fell. Thereafter, Charan Singh--a deputy prime minister in Desai's cabinet--with outside, conditional support from Congress, proved a majority in Lok Sabha and took oath as prime minister. However, Congress pulled its support shortly after, and Singh had to resign; he had a tenure of 5 months, the shortest in the history of the office. In 1980 Indian general election, after a three-year absence, the Congress returned to power with an absolute majority. Indira Gandhi was elected prime minister a second time. During her second tenure, Operation Blue Star--an Indian Army operation inside the Golden Temple, the most sacred site in Sikhism--was conducted, resulting in reportedly thousands of deaths. Subsequently, on 31 October 1984, Gandhi was shot dead by Satwant Singh and Beant Singh--two of her bodyguards--in the garden of her residence at 1, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi.
1984-1999
After Indira, Rajiv--her eldest son and 40 years old at the time--was sworn in on the evening of 31 October 1984, becoming the youngest person ever to hold the office of prime minister. Rajiv immediately called for a general election. In the subsequent general election, the Congress secured an absolute majority, winning 401 of 552 seats in the Lok Sabha, the maximum number received by any party in the history of India. Vishwanath Pratap Singh--first finance minister and then later defence minister in Gandhi's cabinet--uncovered irregularities, in what became known as the Bofors scandal, during his stint at the Ministry of Defence; Singh was subsequently expelled from Congress and formed the Janata Dal and--with the help of several anti-Congress parties--also formed the National Front, a coalition of many political parties.
In the general election of 1989, the National Front--with outside support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left Front--came to power. V. P. Singh was elected prime minister. During a tenure of less than a year, Singh and his government accepted the Mandal Commission's recommendations. Singh's tenure came to an end after he ordered the arrest of BJP member Lal Krishna Advani, as a result, BJP withdrew its outside support to the government, V. P. Singh lost the subsequent vote-of-no-confidence 146-320 and had to resign. After V. P. Singh's resignation, Chandra Shekhar along with 64 members of parliament (MPs) floated the Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya), and proved a majority in the Lok Sabha with support from Congress. But Shekhar's premiership did not last long, Congress proceeded to withdraw its support; Shekhar's government fell as a result, and new elections were announced.
In the general election of 1991, Congress--under the leadership of P. V. Narasimha Rao--formed a minority government; Rao became the first PM of South Indian origin. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, India was on the brink of bankruptcy, so, Rao took steps to liberalise the economy, and appointed Manmohan Singh--an economist and a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India--as finance minister. Rao and Singh then took various steps to liberalise the economy, these resulted in an unprecedented economic growth in India. His premiership, however, was also a witness to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, which resulted in the death of about 2,000 people. Rao, however, did complete five continuous years in office, becoming the first prime minister outside of the Nehru--Gandhi family to do so.
After the end of Rao's tenure in May 1996, the nation saw four prime ministers in a span of three years, , two tenures of Atal Bihari Vajpayee; one tenure of H. D. Deve Gowda from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997; and one tenure of I. K. Gujral from 21 April 1997 to 19 March 1998. The government of Prime Minister Vajpayee--elected in 1998--took some concrete steps. In May 1998--after a month in power--the government announced the conduct of five underground nuclear explosions in Pokhran. In response to these tests, many western countries, including the United States, imposed economic sanctions on India, but, due to the support received from Russia, France, the Gulf countries and some other nations, the sanctions--were largely--not considered successful. A few months later in response to the Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan also conducted nuclear tests. Given the deteriorating situation between the two countries, the governments tried to improve bilateral relations. In February 1999, the India and Pakistan signed the Lahore Declaration, in which the two countries announced their intention to annul mutual enmity, increase trade and use their nuclear capabilities for peaceful purposes. In May 1999, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam withdrew from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition; Vajpayee's government, hence, became a caretaker one after losing a motion-of-no-confidence 269-270, this coincided with the Kargil War with Pakistan. In the subsequent October 1999 general election, the BJP-led NDA and its affiliated parties secured a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha, winning 299 of 543 seats in the lower house.
Role and power of the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is responsible in aiding the President in his/her work relating to the government. 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 from the Members of Parliament.
Some specific ministries/department are not allocated to anyone in the cabinet but the Prime Minister himself. The Prime Minister is usually always in-charge/head of:
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet;
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;
Ministry of Planning;
Department of Atomic Energy; and
Department of Space.
The Prime Minister also represents the country in various international meetings, conferences and organizations.