How is the President of India Elected? Selection Process

President of India Elected By: The position of President was established on January 26, 1950, when India became a republic after obtaining independence on August 15, 1947, when its constitution took effect. The legislative bodies of all the states and union territories of India, as well as the two houses of the Indian Parliament, are indirectly utilized to elect the President.

Even though the prime minister exercises all of the executive powers granted to the President on the advice of the Cabinet Ministers, By Article 53 of the Indian Constitution, the President may use these powers directly or through subordinate authority (with a few exceptions). The Prime Minister’s recommendations must be taken by the President and cabinet as long as it does not conflict with the constitution according to the constitution.

President of India Elected By

On August 15, 1947, India declared its independence from the British. At first, it was a dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations, with George VI as monarch and a governor-general serving as his representative. B. R. Ambedkar led the Indian Constituent Assembly, which was tasked with crafting a brand-new constitution for the nation when it gained independence. India eventually became a republic when the Constitution of India was passed on November 26, 1949, and it went into effect on January 26, 1950. Rajendra Prasad was the first occupant of the new office of the President of India, which was created to replace the positions of monarch and governor-general. According to the London Declaration, which recognized The King as “the symbol of the free association of its sovereign member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth,” India kept its Commonwealth membership.

President of India Selection Process

The main requirements for being eligible for the post of President are laid out in Article 58 of the constitution. To be President, one must:

President of India Selection Criteria

• To serve in the Lok Sabha,
•  An Indian citizen had to be at least 35 years old.
• Let’s say someone is employed in a position of profit by the Government of India, a State, a local government, or another organization. They are not qualified to be elected President in that situation.

Nevertheless, some officeholders are allowed to run for President. Which are:

• Vice President as of right now
• the state’s chief executive

A minister (including the prime minister and chief minister) of the Union or any state. If the vice president, a state governor, or a minister is elected President, they are thought to have resigned from their prior positions on the day they take office.

A member of the State Legislature or the House of Representatives may run for President. Still, if elected, they will be considered to have resigned from their position on the day they take office as President.

According to Article 57, a person who currently occupies or formerly held the office of President is eligible for reelection to that position, subject to the other conditions of this constitution. A candidate must receive the support of 50 electors—50 proposers and 50 seconders—for their name to appear on the ballot under the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act of 1952.

Time of Election

According to Article 56 of the Constitution, The President is chosen to serve a five-year term that officially starts on the day they are inaugurated. An election to fill a vacancy brought on by the expiration of the President’s term of office must be finished before the term’s expiration, as stated in Article 62. When a vacancy in the office of President arises due to a person’s death, resignation, removal, or other reason, there must be an election to fill that vacancy as soon as possible, but under no circumstances more than six months after the vacancy was created. The person elected to fill the vacancy shall, subject to the provisions of Article 56, be qualified to serve for the entire term of five years starting on the day they take office.

Election Process

When a vacancy occurs in the position, an electoral college made up of elected members of both houses of Parliament (MPs), members of all state legislatures (Vidhan Sabha), and members of union territories with legislatures (MLAs) comprising Jammu & Kashmir, Puducherry, The National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi selects a new president. Compared to the prime minister, who is also indirectly chosen by the Lok Sabha’s dominant party (or Union), the President’s election is more involved. While the President is chosen by secret ballot by the members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and state legislative assemblies. The President is the constitutional head responsible for protecting, defending, and preserving the constitution and the supremacy of constitutional law in a constitutional democracy.

The process of nominating a candidate for the post of President must be supported by at least 50 electors who can either propose or second the candidate. Each candidate must deposit a security deposit with the Reserve Bank of India for Rs. 15,000 ($190). The security deposit could only be recovered if the candidate wins one-sixth of the votes.

The election is conducted using the instant-runoff voting (IRV) procedure following the proportional representation (PR) system. Voting is conducted using a secret ballot mechanism. Article 55 of the constitution specifies the process for electing the President.

Each elector, in a different number, casts votes. The basic rule is that the total number of votes cast by state legislators and members of Parliament must equal one another. More votes are cast by lawmakers from bigger states than from smaller states. The number of legislators in a state also counts; if there are fewer legislators, each one has more votes; if there are more legislators, each one has fewer votes.

A state’s population is divided by 1000 to get the actual number of votes it casts in the electoral college, which is then divided by the number of its lawmakers participating in the voting. This figure represents the number of votes cast for each state legislator. By dividing the number of votes allotted to the members of legislative assemblies by the total number of elected representatives in the Parliament, one can determine that each elected member has an equal number of votes.

Even while MPs and MLAs cast actual ballots in India’s presidential elections, they frequently support the candidate their respective parties have endorsed.