Who elects the president?
Article 54 of the Indian Constitution lays the guidelines about voters in a Presidential election.
“Election of President The President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament; and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States,” Article 54 of Indian Constitution reads.
Let us understand this.
Unlike the Prime Ministerial election, where people vote for a particular Lok Sabha candidate, the President is elected by people’s representatives, i.e, Member of Parliaments and Member of Legislative Assemblies of all states. The nominated members of Parliament, Legislative Assemblies, and members of Legislative Council don’t vote in the Presidential election.
Who is eligible to run for the President?
-A person who is 35 years of age
-An Indian National
-Must have a support of 50 MPs/MLAs (these can’t be nominated members)
-Must deposit Rs 15,000 as a security amount with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
-Must not hold any Office of Profit. (Any Constitutional position, which may further give rise to a conflict of interests in discharging of duties)
Voting Pattern
Article 55 of Indian Constitution lays the guidelines about the way Indian President is to be elected.
“The election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot
– Secret Vote: Unlike the voting for any Bill or any motion in Parliament or state Assembly, secret voting is done to elect the President (Nobody can ever come to know who voted for whom).
– Parties can’t issue a whip to their members: Since the Presidential election is intended to be free and fair, and representatives are supposed to exercise their free will, political parties are not allowed to issue a whip to their members for voting.
– Vote value: Vote of each MP and MLA carries a certain value. In the case of MLAs, the value is calculated by dividing total population of the state by the number of elected members to the Legislative Assembly, further divided by 1000. As of now, the value of each MLAs vote is fixed. The population data is taken from the 1971 Census. For example, the maximum vote value of an MLA is 208 (Uttar Pradesh), while the minimum is 8 (Goa).
– In the case of an MP, the vote value is decided by dividing the total value of votes of all MLAs of the whole country, divided by the total number of elected MPs in Lower House (Lok Sabha) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House). At present, the vote value of each MP is fixed at 708.
– Voting System: Unlike the conventional ballot voting, where the voter polls only for a single candidate of his choice, the lawmakers mark their preferences in the Presidential election. For example, if three candidates A, B, and C, are in the fray, then an elected lawmaker will vote according to his/her preference making her/his most preferred candidate as the top choice and accordingly for the rest of the candidates. It is mandatory for every lawmaker to mark his first preference, otherwise the vote is deemed invalid. He or she, however, can leave other preferences vacant
The total strength of the electoral college which votes to elect the President comprises all elected MPs and members of legislative assemblies of all states and UTs of Delhi and Puducherry.
Article 54 of the Indian Constitution lays the guidelines about voters in a Presidential election.
“Election of President The President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament; and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States,” Article 54 of Indian Constitution reads.
Let us understand this.
Unlike the Prime Ministerial election, where people vote for a particular Lok Sabha candidate, the President is elected by people’s representatives, i.e, Member of Parliaments and Member of Legislative Assemblies of all states. The nominated members of Parliament, Legislative Assemblies, and members of Legislative Council don’t vote in the Presidential election.
Who is eligible to run for the President?
-A person who is 35 years of age
-An Indian National
-Must have a support of 50 MPs/MLAs (these can’t be nominated members)
-Must deposit Rs 15,000 as a security amount with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
-Must not hold any Office of Profit. (Any Constitutional position, which may further give rise to a conflict of interests in discharging of duties)
Voting Pattern
Article 55 of Indian Constitution lays the guidelines about the way Indian President is to be elected.
“The election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot
– Secret Vote: Unlike the voting for any Bill or any motion in Parliament or state Assembly, secret voting is done to elect the President (Nobody can ever come to know who voted for whom).
– Parties can’t issue a whip to their members: Since the Presidential election is intended to be free and fair, and representatives are supposed to exercise their free will, political parties are not allowed to issue a whip to their members for voting.
– Vote value: Vote of each MP and MLA carries a certain value. In the case of MLAs, the value is calculated by dividing total population of the state by the number of elected members to the Legislative Assembly, further divided by 1000. As of now, the value of each MLAs vote is fixed. The population data is taken from the 1971 Census. For example, the maximum vote value of an MLA is 208 (Uttar Pradesh), while the minimum is 8 (Goa).
– In the case of an MP, the vote value is decided by dividing the total value of votes of all MLAs of the whole country, divided by the total number of elected MPs in Lower House (Lok Sabha) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House). At present, the vote value of each MP is fixed at 708.
– Voting System: Unlike the conventional ballot voting, where the voter polls only for a single candidate of his choice, the lawmakers mark their preferences in the Presidential election. For example, if three candidates A, B, and C, are in the fray, then an elected lawmaker will vote according to his/her preference making her/his most preferred candidate as the top choice and accordingly for the rest of the candidates. It is mandatory for every lawmaker to mark his first preference, otherwise the vote is deemed invalid. He or she, however, can leave other preferences vacant
The total strength of the electoral college which votes to elect the President comprises all elected MPs and members of legislative assemblies of all states and UTs of Delhi and Puducherry.
The total comes to 10,98,903 votes with each MP carrying a vote value of 708. The vote weight of an MLA depends on the population of the state he or she represents.
A candidate needs 50 per cent plus votes to win the poll. Halfway mark comes at 5,49,452.
The voting for the president's position is through a secret ballot, and party whip does not apply.
In the last elections, present incumbent Pranab Mukherjee had won by a margin of 397776 votes defeating P A Sangma. He garnered 713763 votes against 315987 of Sangma, whose passed away last year
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