The role of the President of India becomes more
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Route 1 clear majority → formation settled → President’s part largely formal
Route 2 coalition era since 1989 → no clear mandates → President’s discretion moves from formal to decisive
no clear majority → role expands → formation: whom to invite → assess support letters → proof of majority within fixed time → floor test settles it → judicial insistence curbs arbitrary discretion → role revives at government collapse / withdrawal of support → caretaker arrangements + fresh judgment on who commands the House → Chakrabarty: coalitions by political calculation, not design → fluid support, frequent bargaining → President drawn in repeatedly
expanded role is bounded, not political → must act constitutionally, not politically → discretion only to protect the parliamentary majority principle → floor test + judicial oversight as the checks
Route 1 significance is conditional → formal under a clear majority, active guardian when the numbers are uncertain
Route 2 President becomes custodian of the majority principle precisely when the party system cannot deliver one
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
