How the President is elected ?

Context

  • On July 18, elected MLAs and MPs across the country will vote to elect India’s 15th President.

About Election of President

  • Under Article 62(1) of the Constitution, “an election to fill a vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of office of President shall be completed before the expiration of the term”.
  • The President is elected by an electoral college consisting of MPs of both Houses of Parliament and MLAs of the states and Delhi and Puducherry.
  • Nominated members of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and the Assemblies, and members of state Legislative Councils, are not part of the electoral college.
  • The votes are weighted, their value determined by the population of each state as per Census 1971.
  • The value of each MLA’s vote varies from a high of 208 in Uttar Pradesh to a low of 7 in Sikkim.
  • The process demands that the 776 MPs (543 in Lok Sabha, 233 in Rajya Sabha) should contribute the same total of votes as the MLAs.
    • Thus, the value of each MP’s vote is 5.43 lakh divided by 776, rounded off to 700.
  • The combined electoral pool from the Assemblies and Parliament adds up to 10.86 lakh.

The Electoral College

How the President is elected ?
Photo Credit: Indian Express

How keenly contested have previous elections been?

  • 1952: The first election was a no-contest.
  • 1957: Prasad was fielded for a second by the Congress. It was again a no-contest.

Reference:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-how-the-president-is-elected-7961048/

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