We all are now well aware of how the Prime Minister of India in elected after witnessing the LOK-SABHA 2014 election over the televisions and Social Media. This was the first ever House elections we have taken interest in, and have voted for the first time.
But, the process of Electing the President of India is quite different. Many of us are not aware of it. Let’s find out, how the first citizen of our country, The President is elected.
While constructing the constitution it was set that the country apart from Prime Minister, also, should have President. From first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad to the present President Mr. Pranab Mukharjee, 13 Presidential Elections have occurred.
Qualification for contesting the Presidential Election:
According to The Article-56 of Indian constitution, it is compulsory to have The President, whose working tenure, is of 5 years. The candidate for Presidential election have to file a nomination with a security deposit if 15,000 Rupees. Along with it, the candidate should have proposal and support of at least 50 voters, who are either the Member of Legislative assembly of any state or are the Member of Parliament. Like other elections, Presidential Elections are also conducted by the Election Commission. The candidate must fulfill the below criteria to file a nomination.
- Must be the citizen of India.
- Must have completed the age of 35 years.
- Must be qualified to become the member of Lok-Sabha.
- Must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India, although he/she can be member of Legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha) or Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad), but he/she have to resign from the post after becoming the President.
The President of India is not directly elected by the citizen, but they are involved in this election through indirect means. The votes of the citizens are given by Member of Legislative assembly of their respective area. In Presidential Election, votes are only given by elected members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Legislative Assembly of all the states; this means that the President nominated members of Rajya Sabha (like Sachin Tendulkar, Rekha etc.) cannot cast their vote. In the same manner, the nominated Anglo-Indian members of Lok Sabha also cannot cast their vote. There is one more thing that should be noticed, that the seven states of our country (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Telangana) also have Legislative council. Therefore, to maintain the equality in all the states, members of the Legislative Council are also restricted to vote in this election.
Process of Presidential Election:
As per the census of India, the population of all the states is included in this election. For this till 2026, the census of 1971 is only valid. There is a special formula for electing the President, so that this election can be completed without any partiality and pi.
THREE BASIC STEPS OF THIS FORMULA:
- To calculate the value of the vote of each MLA of every state.
- To calculate the value of the vote of state on basic of number of MLA of that state.
- To calculate the value of vote of MPs on basic of total number of MLA in the country.
CALCULATION OF VOTE VALUE OF MLA:
Let’s suppose,
The population of a state = A (as per 1971 census)
Number of Elected MLAs in that state = B
Now, as per standard formula, to calculate the value of the vote of 1 MLA of that state, divide the population of the state by the total number of elected MLA and the answer is again divided by 1000.
Therefore, the value of the vote of 1 MLA of a state = D = C/1000 where C = A/B.
(In same manner, the value of vote of each MLA of every state in calculated.)
Now,
The total vote value of state = E = Vote value of 1 MLA * total number of MLA of that state.
Therefore E = D*B
(In this way every state ensures its presence in the Presidential Election)
For clearly understanding the procedure of the Presidential Election, let’s take the example of Andhra Pradesh state (before Telangana was separated)
Population of Andhra Pradesh state (A) = 4, 35, 02,708 (as per 1971 census)
Number of Elected MLAs in that state (B) = 294
Value of vote of 1 MLA of Andhra Pradesh (D) = C/1000 where C = A/B.
C=A/B= 43502708/394 = 1, 47,969 (approx)
D= 1, 47, 969/1000= 148
And thus, value of votes of 1 MLA of Andhra Pradesh is 148.
The total vote value of Andhra Pradesh = E = Vote value of 1 MLA * total number of MLA of that state.
Therefore E = D*B
E= 148*294 = 43, 512
And thus, vote value of Andhra Pradesh state = 43, 512
Similarly the vote value of all the states are calculated, which comes out to be 5, 49, 474.
CALCULATION OF VOTE VALUE OF MP:
To calculate the vote value of MPs, total number of members of Lok Sabha (543) and Rajya Sabha (233) are added.
Therefore, total members of house = 543+233 = 776
Value of votes of one MP = Total value of votes of all states/Total number of MPs
= 549474/776
= 708
And thus, vote value of 1 MP = 708
The total vote value of all MPs = Vote value of 1 MP * total number of MPs.
= 708*776
= 5, 49, 408
And thus, vote value of all MPs = 5, 49, 408
TOTAL NUMBER OF VOTES TO BE GIVEN IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:
Total number of votes to be given in Presidential Election = Total vote value of all the MPs + Total vote value of all the MLAs of every state
=5, 49, 408 + 5, 49, 474
=10, 98, 882.
And thus, the total number of votes to be given in Presidential Election = 10, 98, 882.
WINNING CONDITION:
For winning the election, the candidate must have got 50% + 1 vote. Since this election is multi candidate election, it might be possible that the candidate may not get the majority vote share. To overcome this, the transferable sequential voting system is adapted by the Election Commission, to ensure that the winner is with majority votes.
TRANSFERABLE SEQUENTIAL VOTING SYSTEM IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:
The Presidential Election in India is carried by the process of the Transferable Sequential voting system. In this system, the voters have to mark their sequential preference number against the name of contesting candidates. Although in India, the second round counting was needed only once in 1969 when the counting of votes was done on the basis of second preference in second round counting. During this year, V.V. Giri was elected as the sixth President. This method ensures that the President is elected by majority.
For example: There are 4 candidates contesting in the election viz. A, B, C, D and the total number of voters be 100.
To win the election, the candidate must have 51 votes in this case.
Let the total number first preference votes gained by the candidates are:
Candidate A: 30 votes
Candidate B: 12 votes
Candidate C: 40 votes
Candidate D: 18 votes
In this condition none of the candidates can be declared as the winner as none has got the majority vote (51).
Now, as per the Transferable Sequential voting system, the candidate with lowest first preference vote share gets eliminated.
Therefore the candidate D gets eliminated. Now the 18 ballot papers, in which the first preference was candidate D, are scrutinized. The second preference votes in these 18 ballot papers are noted. Let from 18 ballot papers, A get 4, B gets 2 and C get 12 second preference votes.
Now the total votes for candidates after 2nd round will be:
Candidate A: 34+4=34 votes
Candidate B: 12+2=14 votes
Candidate C: 40+12=52 votes
So finally candidate C will be declared as the winner of the Presidential Election.
If now also, the condition of majority vote is not fulfilled, then the same process is continued by adding a third preference, fourth preference voted and hence forth.
Do you know?
- Rajendra Prasad was the first and the only president who completed two tenures.
- Zakir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed were the two Presidents who died during their tenure..
- If the Legislative assembly of any state is suspended, then too, the elected MLAs has the right to vote in the election
- The President is sworn by the Chief Justice of India.
- At present, the salary of the President is 1, 50, 000 Rupees which is TAX exempted.
