The Vice-President and the Council of Ministers: where executive power sits

The Vice-President is the Republic's second citizen, yet the Constitution gives the office almost no executive work; its real job is presiding over the Rajya Sabha. The Council of Ministers, led by the Prime Minister, is where executive power actually lives, advising a President who must almost always act on that advice. This article explains the Vice-President's election and functions, then maps the Council's constitutional basis, collective responsibility, and the Council-Cabinet line.

The second citizen with one real job

Article 63 provides simply that there shall be a Vice-President of India: high protocol rank, but almost no executive function. Unlike the American Vice-President, the Indian incumbent's substantive role is parliamentary, chairing the Rajya Sabha: a standby for the presidency and the framers' answer to who should preside over the Upper House without being its member.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1952-62) set the chair's scholarly tone; Zakir Husain, V.V. Giri and Mohammad Hidayatullah each also acted as President, and K.R. Narayanan became President. In July 2025 Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned, becoming the third Vice-President to quit before completing his term after V.V. Giri and R. Venkataraman; C.P. Radhakrishnan was elected on 9 September 2025, defeating B. Sudershan Reddy by 452 votes to 300, a reminder that the standby function is not theoretical.

How India elects its Vice-President

Under Article 66 the electoral college is the members of both Houses of Parliament, elected and nominated alike, voting by proportional representation through the single transferable vote. A candidate needs 20 proposers and 20 seconders from the electoral college and a security deposit of 15,000 rupees. The Election Commission conducts the poll under Article 324 and the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952; voting is by secret ballot and no whip can be issued, making it a whip-free zone. Acts done before a void declaration remain valid, and a Vice-President-elect must vacate any legislative seat on assuming office. Contrast the President's election: the college includes elected MLAs, and nominated MPs do not vote.

The difference is deliberate: the President's constituency is national, so states participate; the Vice-President's work is parliamentary, so Parliament alone elects. Qualifications mirror this: citizenship, thirty-five years of age, qualified for Rajya Sabha membership, and no office of profit. Article 71 gives the Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction over election disputes, and an incomplete electoral college does not invalidate the election.

Chairman of the Rajya Sabha: the office that defines the post

Article 64 makes the Vice-President ex-officio Chairman, clarifying the Vice-President shall not be deemed a member of the House. Like the Speaker, the Chairman has no vote in the first instance, only a casting vote on a tie (Article 100). The Chairman maintains order, admits questions and motions, and represents the House, but cannot vote as a member.

Removal under Article 67 needs a Rajya Sabha resolution by a majority of all then members, agreed to by the Lok Sabha by simple majority, with fourteen days' notice; no charges need be stated, unlike impeachment under Article 61. The Rajya Sabha alone initiates, reflecting that the office is its chair. The term is five years with re-election permitted, the incumbent continuing until a successor enters office; the oath is administered by the President (Article 69).

The stand-in President

Under Article 65, when the presidency falls vacant or the President cannot function, the Vice-President acts as President with all the powers, immunities and emoluments of the office, while the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha takes the chair. If the office falls vacant, the acting period is capped at six months, by which time Article 68 requires the successor's election; where the President is merely unable to discharge his functions, as during absence or illness, the acting period can run longer. The Vice-President draws no separate salary for his own office: his emoluments are those of the Rajya Sabha Chairman, and only while acting as President does he draw the President's salary.

V.V. Giri acted after Zakir Husain's death in 1969 (then won the election), Mohammad Hidayatullah in 1969 and 1982, and B.D. Jatti in 1977. Only Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Hamid Ansari have served two full terms, and four Vice-Presidents were elected unopposed: Radhakrishnan twice, Hidayatullah and Shankar Dayal Sharma. Unlike the American Vice-President, who succeeds to the presidency for the remainder of the term, the Indian Vice-President only acts temporarily. An American observer once called the office His Superfluous Highness; the Indian version's real power lies in the Rajya Sabha chair, not the stand-in role. Article 68 requires the successor's election before a term's expiry, or as soon as possible for a casual vacancy, with a full five-year term either way; Article 70 covers other contingencies.

The real executive: the Council of Ministers under Articles 74 and 75

Article 74(1) creates the executive's engine room: a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at its head to aid and advise the President. The 42nd Amendment (1976) made the advice binding; the 44th (1978) let the President require a single reconsideration. Article 74(2) bars courts from inquiring into the advice tendered.

Article 75 builds the architecture: the President appoints the Prime Minister, and other ministers on the Prime Minister's advice. Ministers hold office during the President's pleasure, in practice the Prime Minister's. A non-member minister must enter Parliament within six months (Article 75(5)). Article 77 requires executive action in the President's name; Article 88 lets ministers speak in either House, voting only where they belong.

Collective responsibility and the fifteen percent ceiling

Article 75(3) states the cardinal principle: collective responsibility to the Lok Sabha. The government sinks or swims together; a no-confidence motion against one minister fells them all. Alongside runs individual ministerial responsibility for each ministry. British-style legal responsibility, countersignature of the head of state's acts, does not exist in India, since all executive action is formally the President's.

The 91st Amendment (2003) capped the Council at fifteen percent of the Lok Sabha's strength and barred Tenth Schedule disqualified members from ministership until re-election (Articles 75(1A), 75(1B)). Article 78 makes the Prime Minister the link between President and Council: communicating decisions, furnishing called-for information, and submitting individually-decided matters for the Council's consideration.

Council versus Cabinet: why the textbook distinction matters

The Council is the large body of Articles 74-75: Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers. The Cabinet is the inner circle taking the real decisions, binding the whole Council. The word entered the Constitution only in 1978, when the 44th Amendment inserted it into Article 352, requiring the Cabinet's written advice for a National Emergency.

Collective responsibility attaches to the Council, but real decisions are taken by the Cabinet, often by a smaller kitchen cabinet. The 2024 GS Paper 2 question on the cabinet system's marginalisation of parliamentary supremacy targets exactly this gap: power concentrates in the PMO while collective responsibility keeps its form and loses its substance.

Three ranks of ministers: how the Council of Ministers is layered

The Constitution speaks only of the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at its head (Article 75), but practice has settled into three ranks. Cabinet Ministers head ministries and sit in the Cabinet, the inner decision-making body. Ministers of State are the second rank: those with independent charge run their departments without reporting to a Cabinet Minister, while those without independent charge assist one. Deputy Ministers assist at the third rank and are not members of the Cabinet.

Parliamentary secretaries: the rank that tests the 91st Amendment

States sometimes appoint Parliamentary Secretaries to assist ministers, a rank that exists outside the constitutional hierarchy above. In U.C. Raman v. P.T.A. Rahim (2014) the Supreme Court upheld Assam's appointments but drew the hard line: after the 91st Amendment (2003) capped the Council of Ministers at 15% of the House's strength, any parliamentary secretary who performs ministerial functions counts toward that ceiling. The cap bites hardest where Houses are small: Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir operate under a 10% limit (7 ministers in Delhi's 70-member House).

Individual responsibility: resigning for what your department did

Collective responsibility is the famous doctrine: the Council swims and sinks together. Individual responsibility is its quieter sibling: a minister answers for the acts of their own ministry. B.R. Ambedkar stated it in the Constituent Assembly in 1953, and Lal Bahadur Shastri gave it its textbook illustration by resigning as Railway Minister after the Ariyalur rail accident (1956), taking moral responsibility for a disaster he did not personally cause.

Prelims hooks

• Vice-President: Article 63 (office), Article 64 (ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha), Article 65 (acts as President), Article 66 (election), Article 67 (term and removal).
• Vice-Presidential electoral college: members of both Houses, elected and nominated; proportional representation by single transferable vote; secret ballot. Presidential college additionally includes elected MLAs; nominated MPs do not vote there.
• Qualifications: citizen, 35 years, qualified for Rajya Sabha membership, no office of profit.
• Vice-President is not a member of the Rajya Sabha; has no vote in the first instance, only a casting vote.
• Removal: Rajya Sabha resolution by majority of all then members, agreed to by Lok Sabha, fourteen days' notice; no charges need be stated (unlike the President's impeachment).
• Term five years; eligible for re-election; continues until successor enters office; oath administered by the President (Article 69).
• Article 74: Council of Ministers with PM at head to aid and advise President; binding after 42nd Amendment; one reconsideration allowed by 44th Amendment; advice not inquired into by courts (Article 74(2)).
• Article 75: PM appointed by President; ministers on PM's advice; pleasure doctrine; collective responsibility to Lok Sabha (75(3)); six-month rule for non-member ministers (75(5)).
• 91st Amendment (2003): Council capped at 15 percent of Lok Sabha (75(1A)); defectors barred from ministership until re-elected (75(1B)).
• Cabinet entered the Constitution in 1978 via the 44th Amendment (Article 352); kitchen cabinet = PM's inner circle.
• Acting as President: maximum six months when the office falls vacant; longer only when the President is unable (absence, illness). No separate VP salary: draws the RS Chairman's emoluments, or the President's salary while acting.
• Nomination: 20 proposers plus 20 seconders, 15,000 rupee deposit; ECI conducts under Article 324 and the 1952 Act; secret ballot, whip-free zone.
• Acts before a void declaration stay valid; the Vice-President-elect must vacate any legislative seat on assuming office.
• Two full terms: only Radhakrishnan and Hamid Ansari; elected unopposed: Radhakrishnan (twice), Hidayatullah, Shankar Dayal Sharma; Dhankhar was the third VP to resign early (after Giri and Venkataraman).
• Removal agreed to by the Lok Sabha by simple majority; Indian VP acts temporarily unlike the US VP, who succeeds for the unexpired term.

Mains angle

A question on this theme asks where power actually sits. Start with the text: a ceremonial Vice-Presidency whose real work is parliamentary, paired with a Council wielding the President's powers through binding advice. Then show the working: the Vice-President sustains the Rajya Sabha's daily functioning and the standby presidency, while the Council's collective responsibility is tested by prime ministerial dominance. Use the 2024 GS Paper 2 question directly: argue the PMO, the kitchen cabinet and bypassed Cabinet deliberation against the discipline of Lok Sabha confidence and Article 78's presidential window, concluding that restoring deliberative Cabinet procedure matters more than amendment.

Key Terms

• Presidential Elections Act, 1952: The Presidential Elections Act, 1952 is formally the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, the statute governing elections to India's two highest constitutional offices. It lays down nomination, scrutiny, polling, counting and dispute-resolution procedures, with election petitions heard directly by the Supreme Court. It operationalises Articles 54 to 56 for the presidency. Droupadi Murmu's election as President in 2022 was conducted under this Act's framework.
• The Election Commission: The Election Commission is the constitutional authority under Article 324 that conducts elections to Parliament, state legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President. It became a three-member body in 1993, with the Chief Election Commissioner enjoying tenure protection comparable to a Supreme Court judge. Appointments are now made under the 2023 Act through a committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and a Union Minister. T.N. Seshan's assertive tenure as CEC (1990-96) transformed the Commission's role
• two full terms: Two full terms is a cap limiting a head of state or office-holder to two complete tenures, the best-known case being the United States President under the 22nd Amendment of 1951. Term limits aim to prevent concentration of power while ensuring leadership renewal. The concept appears in GS-2 comparative-constitution answers on executive tenure and democratic safeguards. the US presidency's two-term limit under the 22nd Amendment (1951)
• proportional representation: Proportional representation is the family of electoral systems in which a party's or group's share of seats mirrors its share of votes, unlike first-past-the-post. Variants include party lists and the single transferable vote. For UPSC it matters because the Indian Constitution prescribes proportional representation by single transferable vote for the elections of the President (Article 55) and Vice-President, while Lok Sabha elections use first-past-the-post. The election of the President of India under Article 55 uses proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
• collective responsibility: Collective responsibility is the constitutional doctrine, under Article 75(3), that the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, meaning the whole ministry stands or falls together on the government's policies. Its features are cabinet solidarity and joint accountability. It matters for UPSC because prelims tests Article 75(3) and mains links it to no-confidence motions and parliamentary accountability. the Vajpayee government's defeat in the 1999 confidence vote
• constitutional body: A constitutional body is an institution created directly by the Constitution of India, which lays down its composition, powers and safeguards for independence. Examples include the Election Commission (Article 324), the Union Public Service Commission (Article 315) and the Comptroller and Auditor-General (Article 148). It matters for UPSC because constitutional status makes such bodies harder to abolish or dilute than mere statutory creations. the Election Commission of India, established under Article 324 to superintend elections to Parliament and state legislatures
• simple majority: A simple majority is more than 50 percent of members present and voting, the voting rule for ordinary legislation in Parliament. It suffices for most bills, no-confidence motions, money bills in the Lok Sabha, and election of the Speaker. For UPSC polity, aspirants must distinguish it from absolute, effective, and special majorities required for constitutional amendments under Article 368. Passage of an ordinary bill or a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.
• 42nd Amendment: The 42nd Amendment (1976) is the most sweeping constitutional amendment, enacted during the Emergency and often called the Mini Constitution. It inserted Socialist, Secular, and Integrity into the Preamble, added Fundamental Duties (Article 51A) and Article 39A on free legal aid, transferred subjects like education to the Concurrent List, and curtailed judicial review of constitutional amendments. It matters for UPSC because it reshaped federalism and the rights architecture, and parts of it were later rolled back by the 44th Amendment. The insertion of the word Secular into the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.
• 44th Amendment: The 44th Amendment (1978) is the Janata government's correction of the Emergency-era 42nd Amendment. It restored protections by providing that Article 21 cannot be suspended even during an Emergency, replacing internal disturbance with armed rebellion as a ground for national emergency, and requiring written cabinet advice for the proclamation. It also deleted the right to property as a fundamental right, making it a legal right under Article 300A. For UPSC it is the constitutional safeguard against executive overreach during emergencies. Article 300A, inserted by the 44th Amendment, which protects against deprivation of property except by authority of law.
• 91st Amendment: The 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, capped the size of the Council of Ministers at 15 percent of the strength of the Lok Sabha or the state assembly, with a minimum of twelve members, to curb jumbo cabinets. It also disqualified a legislator disqualified under the Tenth Schedule from holding any remunerative political post, and it removed the one-third split exemption from the anti-defection law. For UPSC, it ties cabinet size to defection reform. A state assembly of 200 members can have at most 30 ministers.
• Tenth Schedule: The Tenth Schedule is the anti-defection law of the Constitution, inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985. It disqualifies legislators who voluntarily give up party membership or vote against the party whip, with exemptions for mergers backed by two-thirds of members and for presiding officers. The presiding officer decides disqualification petitions, subject to judicial review after Kihoto Hollohan (1992). For UPSC, it is a staple of GS-2 polity, tested on disqualification grounds and the Speaker's role. Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992), which upheld the Schedule
• Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of India is the apex court and final interpreter of the Constitution under Articles 124 to 147. It comprises the Chief Justice and 33 other judges, exercises original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction, and guards fundamental rights through writs under Article 32. Its doctrines of basic structure and judicial review shape Indian polity and federalism. Example: Kesavananda Bharati (1973) laying down the basic structure doctrine. Kesavananda Bharati (1973) laying down the basic structure doctrine

Practice questions

The PMO and the Prime Minister's funds

The Prime Minister's Office is the PM's secretariat: it coordinates the working of ministries and departments and advises on policy and administrative matters, led by the Principal Secretary. Three bodies sit directly under it: the Departments of Atomic Energy and Space, and the National Security Council, created by executive order in 1998 for national security and strategic affairs; it is not a constitutional body.

• Prime Minister's National Relief Fund: established in 1948 by Jawaharlal Nehru for displaced persons; today it aids families hit by natural disasters and reimburses medical expenses. Donations are 100% tax-deductible under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• National Defence Fund: established in 1962 after the Sino-Indian war, chaired by the Prime Minister and built on voluntary public contributions, also 100% deductible under Section 80G.
• PM CARES Fund: created in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to address emergency situations.

Cabinet committees and Groups of Ministers

Cabinet committees are extra-constitutional bodies that divide the Cabinet's workload by subject; Groups of Ministers (GoMs) are ad hoc ministerial groups the Cabinet creates for urgent or complex matters cutting across ministries.

• GoMs are ad hoc: created for a specific issue and dissolved automatically after submitting their report or resolving it.
• Some are empowered to decide on behalf of the Cabinet; others function purely in an advisory capacity.
• Membership is drawn from the ministers in charge of the ministries concerned, so every relevant sector gets coordinated input.