The Constitution of India has vested the President with the role ‘to aid and advise’ (Article 74) while expecting him/her to use authority and influence under certain circumstances, yet leaving the actual decision-making with the Cabinet. The president may be assertive and use his/her discretion under certain circumstances—in appointment and dismissal of the prime minister, maintaining relationship between prime minister/president and Council of Ministers, exercising right to be informed, dissolution of the parliament, use of veto power, etc. In fact, the equation within the Union Executive depends upon the factional balance of forces in the ruling party or coalition, the political conditions of hung parliament, party splits and naked struggle for power along with the personalities of the principal actors involved. The experiences have showed that the president’s role was definitely not that of a mere rubber stamp.
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