How is the President of India Elected?
While elections are a fairly well known topic, the election of the President of India is not well known to the layman. This article talks about the election of the President of India from a legal and constitutional point of view.
Introduction
The President of India is recognised as the first citizen of the country and the head of the state. The elected President of India is a part of the Union Executive along with several other members of the parliament including the Prime Minister, Attorney-General of India and the Vice - president.
The provisions of the election of the President are laid down in Article 54 of the Constitution of India. The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Act 1952 led to the establishment of this Constitutional provision.
Droupadi Murmu is the current President of India. She assumed office on 25 July 2022. She is the 15th President of India and was appointed by the electoral college.
Qualifications to Become the President of India
The qualifications to be the President of India are given below:
- He/She must be an Indian citizen
- A person must have completed the age of 35.
- A person must be qualified for election as a member of the House of the People.
- Must not hold a government (central or state) office of profit. However, the following are exceptions to this rule:
- A person is eligible for election as President if he/she is holding the office of President or Vice-President.
- A person is eligible for election as President if he/she is holding the office of the Governor.
- A person is eligible for election as President if he/she is holding the office of Union/ State Minister.
How to be Elected as the President of India
The President of India is elected indirectly by an Electoral College following the system of proportional representation utilizing a single transferable vote system and secret ballots. MPs and MLAs vote based on parity and uniformity values.
Electoral College Composition
Legislative Assemblies of the States
According to the provision of Article 333, every state’s Legislative Assembly must consist of not less than 60 members but not more than 500 members.
Council of States
12 members are nominated by the President of India based on skills or knowledge in literature, arts, science, and social service to act as the members of the Council of States. In total, 245 members make up the Rajya Sabha, of whom 233 are representatives from both the States and Union Territories and 12 are nominated by the President.
House of the People
The composition of the House of People consists of up to 530 members from the state territorial constituencies. They are elected through direct election. The Constitution also provides for up to 20 members from the Union Territories. The current strength of the Lok Sabha is 543 elected members.
Uniformity in the scale of representation of states
To maintain the proportionality between the values of the votes, the following formula is used:
Value of vote of an MLA= total no. of the population of the particular state/ number of elected MLAs of that state divided by 1000.
Single vote system
During the presidential election, one voter can cast only one vote. While the MLAs vote may vary state to state, the MPs vote always remains constant.
MPs and MLAs vote balance
The number of the total value of the MPs votes must equal the total value of the MLAs to maintain the State and the Union balance.
Quotas
The candidate reaching the winning quota or exceeding it is the winner. The formula used is 'Winning quota = total number of votes polled / no. of seats + 1'.
Voters' preference
During the presidential election, the voter casts his vote in favor of his first preferred candidate. However, in case the first preference candidate does not touch the winning quota, the vote automatically goes to the second preference.
Vote transfer
The first preferred candidate with the lowest vote is eliminated and the votes in his/her favor are transferred to the remaining candidates.
Proportional Representation
- The President of India is elected through proportional representation using the means of the single transferable vote (Article 55(3)).
- Proportional representation allows the independent candidates and minority parties to have the chance of representation.
- Proportional representation allows the practice of coalition with many voters under one government.
- Proportional representation ensures that the candidates who are elected broadly reflect the overall opinion of the electorate, rather than just the majority.
Why is the President of India Elected Indirectly?
In a large country like India, the government follows the cabinet system. Hence, a bright leader is very important to guide and run the country. If Presidents were to be elected directly, it would become very complicated, because:
- The general public doesn’t have the absolute clarity of how the president-ship runs so it would be tough for them to know and vote for the right candidate for the president.
- Another reason why the direct election system isn’t favorable is that the candidate running for the president’s profile will have to campaign around the country with the aid of a political party. And, this will result in a massive political instability.
- It would be difficult and impossible for the government to hand out election machinery (given the vast population of India). This will cost the government financially, and may end up affecting the economy as well.
The indirect election system is a respectable system for the First Citizen of India. The system/method of indirect electing of the president also allows the states to maintain neutrality and minimize hostility.