Appointment of Chief Minister

Subject : Polity

Context : Recently, Pushkar Singh Dhami has been appointed as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

Concept :

Constitutional Provisions for Appointment of a Chief Minister

The Constitution does not contain any specific procedure for the selection and appointment of the Chief Minister.
Article 164 only says that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the governor.
It does not imply that the governor is free to appoint any one as the Chief Minister.
The governor has to appoint the leader of the majority party in the state legislative assembly as the Chief Minister.

Conditions for Appointment of Chief Minister

The Constitution does not require that a person must prove his majority in the legislative assembly before he is appointed as the Chief Minister.
A person who is not a member of the state legislature can be appointed as Chief Minister for six months, within which time, he should be elected to the state legislature, failing which he ceases to be the Chief Minister.
The Constitution provides that the Chief Minister may be a member of any of the two Houses of a state legislature.

Term of Chief Minister

The term of the Chief Minister is not fixed and he holds office during the pleasure of the governor.
The Chief Minister cannot be dismissed by the governor as long as he enjoys the majority support in the legislative assembly.