Describe briefly the powers and position of the prime Minister.

(a) Powers: (i) He chairs the Cabinet meetings.
(ii) He coordinates the work of different departments.
(iii) His decisions are final in case disagreements arise between the departments.
(iv) He exercises general supervision of various ministries.
(v) All ministers work under his leadership.
(vi) Prime Minister distributes and redistributes work to the ministers.
(vii) He has the power to dismiss ministers.
(viii) When the Prime Minister quits, the entire ministry quits.
(b) Position of the Prime Minister : The powers of the Prime Minister in all parliamentary democracies of the world have increased so much in recent decades that these are sometimes seen as Prime Ministerial form of government.
Within the Cabinet he is the most powerful. He controls the party and through the party controls the Cabinet and the Parliament. Elections are competition between top leaders of parties. Jawaharlal Nehru exercised great authority due to his influence over the public. Indira Gandhi was also a very powerful leader. Of course, the extent of power wielded by a prime Minister also depends on the personality of the person holding that position. In recent years the rise of coalition politics has changed the position of the Prime Minister of India. Now under coalition government, a Prime Minister has to accommodate views of
different groups and factions in his party as well as among alliance partners on whose support
the survival of the government depends. He has to follow, the agreement among partners in the
government.
Thus” coalition politics has imposed certain constraints on the power of the Prime Minister.