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Indian Polity · 25 min read
India has a parliamentary executive, which means the formal head of state and the effective head of government are different people, and almost every question in this topic exploits that gap. The President appoints the Prime Minister but acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers; the Governor is appointed by the Union but heads a state government answerable to the state assembly.
The material below keeps the formal and the effective positions clearly apart, gives the article number for every rule, and works through the two calculations that are examined directly — the value of a vote in the presidential electoral college, and the ceiling on the size of the Council of Ministers.
Current affairs · 19 September 2026
Every item is dated, read on the conducting body’s or ministry’s own site, and written with the question it becomes. Read today’s items, take the quiz, or download the month as a PDF.
Today’s poster
Why it matters
| Exam | Expected questions | How it usually appears |
|---|---|---|
| UPSC Prelims GS Paper 1 | 3–5 questions | Often on discretionary powers, the emergency provisions and the constitutional bodies. |
| SSC CGL / CHSL Tier 1 | 3–4 questions | Article numbers, terms of office and the electoral college. |
| State PSC Prelims | 4–6 questions | With particular weight on the Governor and the state Council of Ministers. |
| RRB NTPC / Group D | 2–3 questions | Who appoints whom, and the qualifying ages. |
| Banking and insurance GA | 1–2 questions | Usually tied to a current appointment or a recent constitutional body in the news. |
Election, powers and veto
Article 52 creates the office and Article 53 vests the executive power of the Union in it — power exercised, in almost all cases, on the advice of the Council of Ministers. The gap between the formal grant and the actual exercise is the subject of most questions here.
| Category | Contents | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Executive | Appoints the Prime Minister, other ministers on the PM's advice, the Attorney General, the CAG, Governors, the Chief Election Commissioner, and the chairman and members of the UPSC and Finance Commission | All administration is carried on in the President's name under Article 77. |
| Legislative | Summons and prorogues Parliament, dissolves the Lok Sabha, addresses the first session after each general election, nominates twelve members to the Rajya Sabha, and promulgates ordinances under Article 123 | Prior recommendation is needed for money bills and certain other bills. |
| Financial | Money bills need the President's recommendation, the Annual Financial Statement is laid before Parliament by the President, and the Contingency Fund is at the President's disposal | Also constitutes the Finance Commission every five years under Article 280. |
| Judicial | Appoints the Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and exercises the pardoning power under Article 72 | May also seek the Supreme Court's opinion under Article 143, and is not bound by it. |
| Emergency | Proclaims national emergency under Article 352, President's rule under Article 356 and financial emergency under Article 360 | Each requires parliamentary approval within a stated period. |
Election and the two roles
A small office that carries a disproportionate number of questions, because almost every rule about it differs from the corresponding rule for the President.
| Point of comparison | President | Vice-President |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral college | Elected members of both Houses and of the state assemblies, including Delhi and Puducherry | Members of both Houses of Parliament only — and nominated members do vote |
| Qualifying condition | Must be qualified for election to the Lok Sabha | Must be qualified for election to the Rajya Sabha |
| Minimum age | Thirty-five years | Thirty-five years |
| Removal procedure | Impeachment under Article 61, for violation of the Constitution | A resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority of all its then members and agreed to by the Lok Sabha; no ground is specified |
| Resignation addressed to | The Vice-President | The President |
Where real power sits
The Constitution says surprisingly little about the office that actually runs the country, which is itself a point examiners like. Articles 74, 75 and 78 contain almost the whole of it.
When the Lok Sabha is dissolved or a government loses its majority, the outgoing Council of Ministers continues as a caretaker until a successor is appointed, because Article 75 does not permit a vacuum. A caretaker government by convention refrains from major policy decisions. The convention is not written in the Constitution, which is exactly the sort of distinction UPSC questions probe.
Governor and Chief Minister
The state executive mirrors the Union with one crucial asymmetry: the Governor is appointed by the Centre rather than elected, and holds office during the President's pleasure. Nearly every question about Centre–state friction traces back to that fact.
Articles 352, 356 and 360
Part XVIII allows the federal structure to be converted into a unitary one temporarily. Because that power was misused in the 1970s, the 44th Amendment tightened it substantially, and the before-and-after contrast is the question examiners most often ask.
| Type | Grounds and article | Approval and duration |
|---|---|---|
| National emergency | War, external aggression or armed rebellion — Article 352. The 44th Amendment replaced "internal disturbance" with "armed rebellion" and required a written recommendation of the Cabinet. | Approved by both Houses by a special majority within one month; then continues six months at a time. Declared three times: 1962, 1971 and 1975. |
| President's rule | Failure of constitutional machinery in a state — Article 356, on the Governor's report or otherwise. | Approved by both Houses by simple majority within two months; then six months at a time, up to three years, with conditions on any extension beyond one year. |
| Financial emergency | A threat to the financial stability or credit of India — Article 360. | Approved by both Houses by simple majority within two months, and then continues indefinitely until revoked. It has never been declared. |
The institutional checks
A body created by the Constitution itself is a constitutional body; one created by an Act of Parliament is statutory; one created by an executive order is neither. Sorting the well-known bodies into those three categories is one of the most reliably asked questions in polity.
| Body | Article | Composition and tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Election Commission | Article 324 | The Chief Election Commissioner and such other Commissioners as the President fixes. The CEC can be removed only in the manner of a Supreme Court judge; other Commissioners only on the CEC's recommendation. |
| Union Public Service Commission | Articles 315–323 | Chairman and members appointed by the President, holding office for six years or until the age of sixty-five, whichever is earlier. Removal only by the President after an inquiry by the Supreme Court. |
| State Public Service Commission | Article 315 | Appointed by the Governor, six years or until sixty-two. But removal is by the President, not the Governor — a deliberate safeguard, and a very common question. |
| Finance Commission | Article 280 | Constituted by the President every fifth year or earlier, with a chairman and four other members, to recommend the distribution of tax proceeds between the Union and the states. |
| Attorney General | Article 76 | The first law officer of the government, appointed by the President, qualified to be a Supreme Court judge. Has a right of audience in all courts and may speak in either House or any committee, but has no vote. |
| Comptroller and Auditor General | Article 148 | Six years or until sixty-five, whichever is earlier; removable only like a Supreme Court judge; salary charged on the Consolidated Fund. |
| National Commission for Scheduled Castes | Article 338 | A constitutional body; the parallel Commission for Scheduled Tribes sits in Article 338A and the Commission for Backward Classes in Article 338B, added by the 102nd Amendment. |
The permanent executive
Ministers change with elections; the services do not. The Constitution therefore gives civil servants specific protections, and creates a category of service shared between the Union and the states.
Solved examples
Read the steps rather than the answer. The method is what transfers to the next question.
Do nominated members of the Rajya Sabha take part in the election of the President?
Answer: No in the election, yes in an impeachment.
The Lok Sabha has a total strength of 543. What is the maximum size of the Council of Ministers?
Answer: Eighty-one ministers, including the Prime Minister.
A Governor commutes a death sentence. Is this valid?
Answer: No — a Governor cannot deal with a death sentence at all under Article 161.
What did the 44th Amendment change about a proclamation of national emergency?
Answer: A narrower ground, a written Cabinet recommendation, and absolute protection for Articles 20 and 21.
A person who is not a member of either House is appointed a minister. For how long may they continue?
Answer: Six months, within which they must enter one of the Houses.
A member of a State Public Service Commission is to be removed. Who removes them?
Answer: The President, not the Governor, after a Supreme Court inquiry.
Classify the NITI Aayog, the Election Commission and the National Human Rights Commission.
Answer: Constitutional, statutory and executive respectively.
What is a pocket veto and when was it used?
Answer: Indefinite inaction on a bill, made possible by the absence of any time limit in Article 111.
Practice
Work each one out before you reveal the answer — the explanation is where the marks are.
Q1The executive power of the Union is vested in the:
Q2The minimum age for election as President of India is:
Q3The President can be removed from office for:
Q4The population figure used to calculate the value of an MLA's vote in the presidential election is from the census of:
Q5The ceiling of 15% on the size of the Council of Ministers was imposed by the:
Q6The Vice-President is elected by:
Q7Which article deals with the proclamation of President's rule in a state?
Q8A financial emergency under Article 360 has been declared:
Q9The Attorney General of India:
Q10NITI Aayog is a:
Q11A Governor holds office:
Q12Which case held that a proclamation under Article 356 is subject to judicial review?
Q13The three All India Services are the IAS, the IPS and the:
Q14Article 311 protects a civil servant from dismissal without:
Q15The Finance Commission is constituted by the President under Article:
Q16During a national emergency proclaimed on the ground of armed rebellion, Article 19 is:
Questions
Not quite, but close in ordinary times. Article 74 makes ministerial advice binding, and the 44th Amendment leaves only the power to require reconsideration once. Real discretion appears in unusual situations — appointing a Prime Minister when no party has a majority, dismissing a government that has lost confidence but will not resign, and the pocket veto, which exists because no time limit is prescribed.
Because it is calculated as the state's population divided by the number of its elected MLAs, divided again by a thousand. A state with a large population per legislator therefore has a higher value per vote. The device makes the electoral college reflect population rather than merely counting legislators.
The President under Article 72 can deal with sentences of death and with court-martial sentences; the Governor under Article 161 can do neither. Otherwise both may pardon, commute, remit, respite and reprieve, the Governor in respect of offences against laws on matters within the state's executive power.
A constitutional body is created by the Constitution itself and cannot be abolished or fundamentally altered without a constitutional amendment — the Election Commission, UPSC, Finance Commission, CAG and Attorney General are examples. A statutory body is created by an ordinary Act of Parliament and can be changed by ordinary legislation — the NHRC, CVC and Lokpal are examples. An executive body such as NITI Aayog has neither basis.
Because the Governor is appointed by the Union and holds office during its pleasure, yet exercises discretionary powers that can decide who governs a state — recommending President's rule, choosing a Chief Minister in a hung assembly, and reserving bills for the President. The Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions both recommended safeguards, and the Bommai judgment restricted the most damaging use of that discretion.
It is much harder. Bommai held that the proclamation is judicially reviewable, that the floor of the assembly rather than the Governor's opinion is the test of majority, and that the assembly should not be dissolved before Parliament approves. The number of proclamations fell sharply afterwards, though disputes over the Governor's handling of government formation continue.
The Chief Justice of India, or in his absence the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court available, discharges the functions of the President. This is provided for by the Supreme Court Judges (Discharge of Functions) Act, 1969, rather than by the Constitution, and it has actually happened once, in 1969.
The office-holders, obviously; the number of Election Commissioners and the law governing their appointment, which has been legislated recently; the award period and terms of reference of the current Finance Commission; and the strength of the Council of Ministers. The articles, majorities, ages and tenures do not change.
Not at the moment of appointment. Article 75(5) allows a non-member to be appointed, but the person must become a member of either House within six months or cease to hold office. The same rule applies in the states under Article 164(4).
Three to five in UPSC Prelims, three to four in SSC CGL Tier 1, four to six in state PSC prelims where the Governor and state Council of Ministers add weight, and two to three in RRB NTPC. The constitutional-versus-statutory-versus-executive classification of bodies is the single most repeated question in the block.
Attempt a timed mock while the formulas are fresh — that is what tells you which of them actually stuck.
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