PRESIDENT OF INDIA: HOW PRESIDENT IS ELECTED ?
ELECTION PROCEDURE OF PRESIDENT OF INDIA
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| ELECTION PROCEDURE |
President of India
Articles 52 to 78 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the Union Executive.
The Union executive consists of the Presi-dent, the Vice-President, the
Prime Minister, the council of ministers and the attorney general of India.The President is the head of the Indian State. He is the first citizen of India And acts as the symbol of unity, integrity and solidarity of the nation.
ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT
The President is elected not directly by the people but by members of
Electoral college consisting of:
The elected members of both the Houses of Parliament;The elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states; and The elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union Territories Of Delhi and Puducherry
Thus, the nominated members of both of Houses of Parliament, the
Nominated members of the state legislative assemblies, the members (both Elected and nominated) of the state legislative councils (in case of the Bicameral legislature) and the nominated members of the Legislative Assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry do not participate in the election of the President. Where an assembly is dissolved, the members cease to be qualified
To vote in presidential election, even if fresh elections to the dissolved Assembly are not held before the presidential election.
The Constitution provides that there shall be uniformity in the scale of Representation of different states as well as parity between the states as a Whole and the Union at the election of the President. To achieve this, the Number of votes which each elected member of the legislative assembly of Each state and the Parliament is entitled to cast at such election shall be Determined in the following manner:
Every elected member of the legislative assembly of a state shall have as Many votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the quotient obtained By dividing the population of the state by the total number of the elected Members of the assembly This can be expressed as:
Value of the vote of an MLA=(Total population of the state ÷ total elected members of the state legislative assembly)1/1000
Every elected member of either House of Parliament shall have such Number of votes as may be obtained by dividing the total number of votes Assigned to members of the legislative assemblies of the states by the total Number of the elected members of both the Houses of Parliament. This Can be expressed as:
Value of the vote of an MP= (Total value vote of all MLA of all states÷ total elected members of parliament)
The President’s election is held in accordance with the system of Proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the Voting is by secret ballot. This system ensures that the successful candidate is Returned by the absolute majority of votes. A candidate, in order to be Declared elected to the office of President, must secure a fixed quota of votes.The quota of votes is determined by dividing the total number of valid votes Polled by the number of candidates to be elected (here only one candidate is to be elected as President) plus one and adding one to the quotient. The formula can be expressed as:
Electoral quota={(Total number of valid Polled vote)÷(1+1)}+1
Each member of the electoral college is given only one ballot paper. The
voter, while casting his vote, is required to indicate his preferences by
marking 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. against the names of candidates. This means that the
voter can indicate as many preferences as there are candidates in the fray.
In the first phase, the first preference votes are counted. In case a candidate
secures the required quota in this phase, he is declared elected. Otherwise, the
process of transfer of votes is set in motion. The ballots of the candidate securing the least number of first preference votes are cancelled and his second preference votes are transferred to the first preference votes of other candidates. This process continues till a candidate secures the required quota.
All doubts and disputes in connection with election of the President are inquired into and decided by the Supreme Court whose decision is final. The election of a person as President cannot be challenged on the ground that the electoral college was incomplete (ie, existence of any vacancy among the members of electoral college). If the election of a person as President is declared void by the Supreme Court, acts done by him before the date of such declaration of the Supreme Court are not invalidated and continue to remain in force.Some members of the Constituent Assembly criticised the system of indirect election for the President as undemocratic and proposed the idea of indirect election. However, the Constitution makers chose the indirect election due to the following reasons
The indirect election of the President is in harmony with the parliamentary system of government envisaged in the Constitution. Under this system, the President is only a nominal executive and the real powers are vested in the council of ministers headed by the prime minister. It would have been anomalous to have the President elected directly by the people and not give him any real power.The direct election of the President would have been very costly and time-And energy-consuming due to the vast size of the electorate. This is unwarranted keeping in view that he is only a symbolic head.
Some members of the Constituent Assembly suggested that the President Should be elected by the members of the two Houses of Parliament alone.The makers of the Constitution did not prefer this as the Parliament,dominated by one political party, would have invariably chosen a candidate from that party and such a President could not represent the states of the Indian Union. The present system makes the President a representative of the Union and the states equally.Further, it was pointed out in the Constituent Assembly that the expression ‘proportional representation’ in the case of presidential election is a misnomer. Proportional representation takes place where two or more seats are to be filled. In case of the President, the vacancy is only one. It could better be called a preferential or alternative vote system. Similarly, the expression ‘single transferable vote’ was also objected on the ground that no voter has a single vote; every voter has plural votes.
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to miss presidential polls for second time in history
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act provides for a Legislative Assembly for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, but the election is yet to be held due to various reasons
As India elects its next President on July 18, the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will not be a part of the exercise for the second time in the history of the election to the top constitutional post.
There have been precedents of Legislative Assemblies of States not being part of the presidential polls on account of their dissolution, the first such instance being of Gujarat in 1974.
The Assemblies of Assam, Nagaland and Jammu and Kashmir too could not participate in subsequent elections on account of dissolution.
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to miss presidential polls for second time in history In the present case, the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir is yet to be constituted The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act provides for a Legislative Assembly for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, but the election is yet to be held due to various reasons As India elects its next President on July 18, the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will not be a part of the exercise for the second time in the history of the election to the top constitutional post.
History Other State Assembly which not participated in the presidential election polls
There have been precedents of Legislative Assemblies of States not being part of the presidential polls on account of their dissolution, the first such instance being of Gujarat in 1974.The Assemblies of Assam, Nagaland and Jammu and Kashmir too could not participate in subsequent elections on account of dissolution.
In the present case, the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir is yet to be constituted after the erstwhile State was bifurcated into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in 2019.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act provides for a Legislative Assembly for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, but the election is yet to be held due to various reasons.
In 1974, Gujarat was in the throes of the Navnirman movement, which led to the dissolution of the State Government headed by Chimanbhai Patel.
Against the backdrop of demands to postpone the presidential polls, a reference was made to the Supreme Court to get its opinion and nip any controversy in the bud.
The apex court had opined that the presidential polls had to be held and completed in such time as may enable the President-elect to enter the office on the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing president and therefore, the election should be held even if the Gujarat Legislative Assembly was not in existence then.
The Supreme Court had noted that Article 54 of the Constitution mentioned the houses of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies only for the purpose of showing the qualifications of the members of the electoral college.
“The elected members of a dissolved Legislative Assembly of a State are no longer members of the electoral college consisting of the elected members of both houses of Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States and are, therefore, not entitled to cast votes at the presidential elections,” the top court had opined.
In 1992, the Legislative Assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland were dissolved and thus, could not be part of the 10th presidential polls that elected Shankar Dayal Sharma to the top constitutional post.
In 1992, Jammu and Kashmir had gone unrepresented in the presidential polls as the election to the Lok Sabha too could not take place in the erstwhile State in 1991 due to insurgency.
However, in the July 18 presidential polls, five Lok Sabha members from the Union Territory — Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi, Akbar Lone, Jugal Kishor Sharma and Jitendra Singh — are eligible to cast their votes.
In 1982, when Giani Zail Singh was elected as the President, the legislators from Assam could not vote as the Assembly was dissolved.
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