Q.Discussion: Alok (PM decides everything like a king), Shekhar (PM is 'first among equals', no special powers), Bobby (PM considers party expectations but has greater policy say). Which applies most to India?
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Bobby's position — that the Prime Minister has to consider the expectations of the party and coalition partners, but still has a genuinely greater say in policy-making and in choosing ministers than an ordinary minister — fits the working of the Indian Prime Ministership best, in both the single-party-majority era and the coalition era.
Alok's claim that the PM 'decides everything like a king' overstates the reality even during periods of single-party dominance, and is clearly wrong for the coalition era: since 1989, Prime Ministers have had to negotiate policies and programmes with pre-poll and post-poll allies, consult coalition partners extensively before taking decisions, and have faced real restrictions on choosing ministers and allocating portfolios freely. The chapter is explicit that in coalition governments the PM often has to act 'more as a negotiator than as [the sole] leader of the government' — the opposite of a king ruling unilaterally.
Shekhar's claim that the PM is merely 'first among equals' with no special powers understates the office just as much. The Constitution and constitutional practice give the PM a genuinely pre-eminent, structurally different position from every other minister: the Council of Ministers cannot exist without the PM and comes into being only once the PM takes the oath; the PM's death or resignation dissolves the entire Council (whereas another minister's exit only creates a single vacancy); the PM alone communicates all Council decisions to the President; and the PM's power draws on distinct sources — command of the Lok Sabha majority, control of the bureaucratic machine, media visibility, and standing as the country's face in international summitry — none of which an ordinary minister possesses. This is a structurally unequal relationship, not one of 'equals.' …
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