In Relation to Council of Ministers

The Prime Minister enjoys the following powers as head of the Union council of ministers:

1. He recommends persons who can be appointed as ministers by the president. The President can appoint only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the Prime Minister.

2. He allocates and reshuffles various portfolios among the ministers.

3. He can ask a minister to resign or advise the President to dismiss him in case of difference of opinion.

4. He presides over the meeting of council of ministers and influences its decisions.

5. He guides, directs, controls, and coordinates the activities of all the ministers.

6. He can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by resigning from office.

Since the Prime Minister stands at the head of the council of ministers, the other ministers cannot function when the Prime Minister resigns or dies. In other words, the resignation or death of an incumbent Prime Minister automatically dissolves the council of ministers and thereby generates a vacuum. The resignation or death of any other minister, on the other hand, merely creates a vacancy which the Prime Minister may or may not like to fill.