Deputy CM in Indian States: The Republic of India currently consists of 28 states and three union territories. Where the elected government rules. Provision for formation of state government has been made in Article 164 of the Constitution. According to this, the Governor administers the oath of office as Chief Minister to the leader of the majority legislative party. After this, cabinet expansion takes place on the advice of the Chief Minister. But there is no mention of the post of Deputy Chief Minister anywhere in the Constitution. Despite this, there are Deputy Chief Ministers in 16 states of the country. There are about 26 Deputy Chief Ministers in 16 states of India. Two Deputy Chief Ministers each are working in nine states of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. The most interesting example is seen in Tamil Nadu. Where the father is the Chief Minister and the son is the Deputy Chief Minister.
Who is the first deputy CM in India?
In India, the mention of the post of Deputy Chief Minister was first heard in the state of Bihar. Anugrah Narayan Singh of Bihar became the first Deputy Chief Minister of independent India. He served as Deputy Chief Minister till 1956. In the year 1967, Karpoori Thakur became the second Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. When Congress became weak in 1967. Then Deputy Chief Ministers were made in many states. In 1967, the United Legislative Party formed the government in Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of Chaudhary Charan Singh. Then Ram Prakash Gupta of Jan Sangh was sitting on the chair of Deputy Chief Minister.
Jana Sangh leader Virendra Kumar Sakchela became the first Deputy Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh. He held this post in the government of Govind Narayan Singh. Whereas in the state of Haryana, Chaudhary Chand Ram was made the first Deputy Chief Minister. After the year 1990, the tradition of making Deputy Chief Minister started in the country. Sushil Kumar Modi of Bihar made the record of holding the post of Deputy Chief Minister for the longest period. Sushil Kumar Modi was the Deputy Chief Minister for almost ten years.
How many Deputy Chief Ministers in which state of the country?
Deputy Chief Ministers have been made in 16 states of the country. Many of these states have two Deputy Chief Ministers each. Among the states with two Deputy Chief Ministers, Uttar Pradesh has Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak as Deputy Chief Ministers. So in Bihar, Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Sinha are sitting on the chair of Deputy Chief Minister. Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma in Chhattisgarh, Jagdish Deora and Rajendra Shukla in Madhya Pradesh, P. Taisong and S. in Meghalaya. Dhar, Y Paton and Tia Zeliang in Nagaland, Prem Bairwa and Diya Kumari in Rajasthan, K. Singh Deo and Parvati Parida are the Deputy Chief Ministers. Pawan Kalyan in Andhra Pradesh, Mukesh Agnihotri in Himachal Pradesh, Surendra Chaudhary in Jammu and Kashmir and DK Shivakumar in Karnataka are the Deputy Chief Ministers. Similarly, Udhayanidhi Stalin in Tamil Nadu and MB Vikramarka in Telangana are looking after the post of Deputy Chief Minister.
The motive behind making Deputy Chief Minister
The first objective of any political party behind appointing Deputy Chief Minister in the states is to achieve caste equation. In every state at least four to five castes are socially vocal. But after the formation of the government, any political party can appoint a person from the same caste to the post of Chief Minister. In such a situation, to satisfy the other castes, the Deputy Chief Minister is made. For example, in Madhya Pradesh, BJP made Mohan Yadav of OBC community the Chief Minister.
Brahmins are the core vote of BJP in MP. To maintain his hold on this, Rajendra Shukla has been made the Deputy Chief Minister. Jagdish Deora was also given the post of Deputy Chief Minister to help the Dalit community. Similarly, in Rajasthan, BJP made Bhajanlal Sharma of Brahmin community the Chief Minister. But to keep the upper caste community happy, Diya Kumari and to satisfy the Dalit community, Prem Chandra Bairwa was given the post of Chief Minister.
Similarly, one of the objectives of making Deputy Chief Minister in any state is to keep the bond of alliance strong. To keep the alliance strong, the Deputy Chief Minister is made. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra are examples of this. Chandrababu Naidu of TDP is the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Pawan Kalyan, leader of his alliance party Janasena, is looking after the post of Deputy CM. Similarly, in Bihar, JDU’s Nitish Kumar is holding the post of Chief Minister. Whereas his allies Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Sinha of BJP have been made Deputy Chief Ministers.
Who can become Deputy Chief Minister?
No special qualification is required to become Deputy Chief Minister in any state. Any person who has the qualification to become a minister can sit on the post of Deputy Chief Minister. In some states, MLAs are made Deputy Chief Ministers. In some states, this post is also given to the members of the Legislative Council. The salary, other allowances and facilities of the Deputy Chief Minister are equal to that of a Cabinet Minister. That is why the Deputy Chief Minister takes oath only as a Cabinet Minister. After this, on the recommendation of the Chief Minister, the Governor gives him the status of Deputy Chief Minister.
