Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs

Polity & Governance glossary

Also called: CCPA · Topic: Union Executive: President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) is a cabinet committee that handles Centre-state relations and sensitive political matters, including political questions with economic or security effects. Because these matters are so wide and important, people often call it the "super cabinet". It is not in the Constitution. The Prime Minister sets it up under the Rules of Business, like the other cabinet committees.

Example

A serious dispute between the Union and a state government is the kind of matter the CCPA would discuss before the government decides how to respond.

Don't confuse with

  • The Cabinet: "super cabinet" is only a nickname. The CCPA is a smaller committee drawn from the Cabinet. The Cabinet itself is the inner group of senior ministers, and Article 352(3) is the only place the Constitution names it.
  • Kitchen cabinet: this is an informal inner circle of trusted ministers and advisers, as under Indira Gandhi. The CCPA is a formal committee set up under the Rules of Business.

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