Article 164 — Appointment of the Chief Minister

According to Article 164(1): "The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister."

• The Governor does not have the freedom to appoint just anyone. Following democratic conventions, the Governor must appoint the leader of the majority party (or coalition) in the State Legislative Assembly as the Chief Minister.
• The Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the Governor, meaning they can be dismissed by the Governor (but realistically, only on the advice of the CM).

Article 164 has a unique provision for four specific states: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha.

In these states, there MUST be a Minister specifically in charge of Tribal Welfare, who may additionally be in charge of the welfare of Scheduled Castes and backward classes. (Originally, Bihar was in this list, but was removed by the 94th Amendment; Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were added).

To prevent Chief Ministers from creating massive, expensive 'jumbo' cabinets just to appease political allies, the 91st Constitutional Amendment (2003) added Article 164(1A).

It states that the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Legislative Assembly of that State.

However, it also states that the number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister in a State, shall not be less than 12.

Article 164(2) states a fundamental rule of parliamentary democracy: "The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State."

This means if a vote of no-confidence is passed in the Assembly, the entire Council of Ministers (including the CM) must resign.