News Highlights
The Election Commission on Thursday announced that the Presidential election would be held on July 18 and counting of votes, if required, would be held on July 21
President Election
- 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.
- Constitutional Provisions
- Article 54: Election of President
- Article 55: Procedure of election of President.
- Article 56 :Term of office of President
- Article 57: Eligibility for re-election.
- Article 58: Qualifications for election as President
- Qualifications for Election as President
- He should be a citizen of India.
- He should have completed 35 years of age.
- He should be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha.
- He should not hold any office of profit under the Union government or any state government or any local authority or any other public authority.
- A sitting President or VicePresident of the Union, the Governor of any state and a minister of the Union or any state is not deemed to hold any office of profit and hence qualified as a presidential candidate.
- Conditions for a qualified person to be nominated as a candidate for the election
- He must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders.
- Every candidate has to make a security deposit of Rs. 15,000 in the RBI, which is liable to be forfeited in case the candidate fails to secure one-sixth of the votes polled.
- An elector cannot propose or second the nomination of more than one candidate.
- Election Process
- The President is elected not directly by the people but by members of electoral college consisting of:
- The elected member of both the Houses of Parliament.
- The elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States
- The elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of Union Territories(provision was added by the 70th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992)
- The President is elected not directly by the people but by members of electoral college consisting of:
- Method of Voting
- As the President’s election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote and the voting by secret ballot, this system ensures that the successful candidate is returned by the absolute majority of votes.
- Voting Calculation
- Value of the vote of an MLA
- Value of the vote and MP
- The value of the vote of each MLA varies from state to state. However, the value of the votes of the MPs is the same.
- Term of President’s office
- Once President is elected, he holds office for five years.
- He sits in the office even after the completion of five years given no new election have taken place or no new President has been elected till then.
- He can also be reelected and there is no cap on his re-election.
Content Source: The Hindu