President Election in India: Who will be elected for the 2022 Presidential election?

NDA’s presidential nominee Draupadi Murmu is all set for this year’s Presidential elections. If elected, she will become the first tribal President of the country. And the second woman president after Pratibha Patil. President Ram Nath Kovind’s tenure is coming to an end on July 25, for which a Presidential election will be conducted to fill his post on July 18; probably by the 21st of July, we will know who our new President will be. Now, the question is, how is the President of India chosen? What is the process? Is it the same as a Parliamentary election? In this article, we shall be discussing all of these.

The presidential election is not a direct election. Unlike MLAs or MPs, instead, he is elected by an electoral college. The members of this electoral college are from the Parliament, Legislative Assemblies of the states & Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories (only those having an elected assembly). So, on the other hand, nominated members to Rajya Sabha and state Legislative Councils are not part of the electoral college.

• He should be an Indian Citizen.

• He must have a minimum age of 35 years.

• He must qualify the conditions to be elected as a member of the Lok Sabha.

• He should not hold any office of profit under the central government, state government, or any public authority.

• Once he gets elected, he holds office for a period of 5 years.

• The oath must be taken by the Chief Justice of India.

• He writes his resignation to the Vice-President of India.

• Disputes relating to the Presidential election are challenged in the Supreme Court.

• Impeachment can be done only on the grounds of violation of the constitution.

Election of President in India

Article 54 elucidates that there shall be an election for the President of India, elected indirectly by the single-transferable voting system. The President is elected by an electoral college composed of elected representatives of the government that form the government after being elected in the state assembly and national elections. The nominated members of both the houses and state legislatures are not permitted to vote in the presidential election. Hence, the electoral college of the presidential election comprises:

• Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

• Legislative Assemblies of the states.

• Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir  and Puducherry (Since 1992 through the 70th Constitutional Amendment Act)

Article 55 talks about the manner of the election of the President. It states that:

• The President is elected indirectly by an electoral college.

• The election shall be conducted following the system of proportional representation utilizing a single transferable vote system and secret ballots.

• The election must be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. 

The value of each MP and MLA vote varies according to the number of members in their legislative body. Further, each elector puts in a different number of votes. The general principle is that the total number of votes cast by Members of Parliament equals the total number of votes cast by State Legislators.

Value of Vote of MP & MLA in presidential Election

Value of the vote of an MLA=      Total population of the state

                                                     ______________________________

                                               Total number of elected members   x 1000

                                                       In the state legislative assembly

Value of the vote of an MP=       Total value of votes of all MLAs of all states (this total is derived from the above formula)

                                                     ___________________________________________

                                                    Total number of elected members of Parliament

 The President of India is elected indirectly by an Electoral College following the system of proportional representation utilizing this single transferable vote system (of MPs) by casting their votes using secret ballots. A person is eligible for election as President if he/she is holding the office of President or Vice-President or the office of the Governor, or the office of Union/ State Minister.

Process of Election of President

• The first step is the nomination of a candidate for the Presidential election must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders. 

• Each candidate has to make a security deposit of ₹15,000 in the RBI. The security deposit will get forfeited in case the candidate does not secure one-sixth of the votes polled.

• The election is held according to the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (STV) method, where the preferential voting system is followed with the help of a secret ballot system.

 Impeachment Process of the President of India

The impeachment process is a quasi-judicial process, and Article 61 deals with it:

• The President can be removed from office by impeachment only on the grounds of violating the Constitution. 

• It can begin from any house of the Parliament by levelling charges against him. 

• All the members of the Parliament (elected + nominated) take part in this process.

• The notice stating the charges against the President must be signed by at least a quarter of the members of the House. 

• Later, this notice is sent to the President, and within 14 days, the process of impeachment starts. 

• The resolution to impeach the president must be passed by a special majority (two-thirds) in the originating house. 

• Next, it is sent to the other house for consideration. The other house acts as the investigating house, and a Select Committee is formed to investigate the charges labelled against the President. 

• During the process, the President has the right to defend himself through authorized counsel, including even the Attorney General of India.

• Post the investigation by the Select Committee, if the other house also passes the resolution by a two-thirds majority, the President of India stands impeached

Conclusion

To conclude here, let’s discuss a few interesting facts about the President of India. Do you know that Dr Rajendra Prasad (the first President of India) is the only person to have held office for two terms, and only two presidents, Zakir Husain & Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office? Also, 7 Presidents have been members of a political party before being elected & 6 of these were active party members of the INC, whereas the Janata Party has had one member, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who later became President.