Polity Notes
RECENT UPDATE - PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF INDIA
President of India is a constitutional post under Art 52. President is first citizen of India and his wife is first Lady of India. Rule of Law & Equality before Law is applicable to every citizen of India but our President is an exception. He is above law. No police officer can arrest him under any circumstances. No court can issue summon to the President to appear before the court and give his witness. (President VV Giri voluntarily once appeared before the court and gave his witness, but he was not issued any summon by the court.). President is supreme commander of our Armed Forces.
In case President is a woman , then her husband is known as First Gentleman of India .
Tenure: Tenure of President is five years and is fixed i,e, he cannot be removed from his post beforecompletion of his tenure under any circumstances. The only exception is Impeachment by Parliament. The tenure of President starts from the day he assumes office, e,g, President Mrs. Droupadi Murmuassumed her office on 25th July 2022 and will hold the post till new President assumes office on 25thJuly 2027. Re-election is permissible but Dr. Rajendra Prasad made the conventionthat one should not hold the post of President more than twice. This is a convention, not a Constitutional provision in India.
Eligibility:Any Indian citizen over the age the 35 years is eligible to be President of India. He should be eligible to be elected as a member of Lok Sabha and must not be holding any office of Profit under Government of India, Government of a state or under any local or other authority under to the control of any said govts. (may hold the post of President, Vice President, Governor, Minister of Union or of any state Govt). Dr. Rajendra Prasad was our first President. Sh. Ram Nath Kovind is our 14th President. Sh. Pranav Mukherjee was our 13th President. Mrs. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil was the firstwoman President of India. Sh. K.R. Narayanan was first President from dalit community and Sh.Ram Nath Kovind is Second.
Mrs. Droupadi Murmu is second woman President and first President from the Tribal Community She is also the first President of India who was born in Independent India. She belongs to Santhal Tribe. This. Tribe is found mainly in West Bengal, Assam, M.P, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand & Odisha.
In case President want to resign, then he can submit his resignation to Vice President.
Oath of office to President is administered by Chief Justice of India.
President can submit his resignation to Vice President. Oath of office to President is administered by Chief Justice of India.
In case of death or resignation by the President, our Vice President do hold this post as ActingPresident for a maximum period of six months. It is mandatory for the Election Commission ofIndia to conduct election of new President within six months after the death or resignation by thePresident. Our two Presidents, Sh. Zakir Hussain & Sh. Fakruddin Ali Ahmed could not completetheir tenure due to their deaths.
In 1969, after the death of President Dr. Zakir Hussain, Vice President V.V. Giri was sworn in as acting president but he too resigned after one month. Thereafter Chief Justice of India Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah took over as Acting President. There after V.V. Giri became President after winning the election.
In 1977, after the death of Farkruddin Ali Ahmed, Vice President Sh B.D. Jatti became Acting President of India. Elections were Conducted by ECI to elect a new President. Mr. Neelam Sanjeev Reddy was elected and he became our President and Sh. B.D. Jatti returned back to the office of Vice-President. When Vice President take charge as Acting President, the post of Vice President remains Vacant and he does not preside the proceedings of Rajya Sabha.
Any dispute regarding election of President is resolved by Supreme Court.
Election of President:
Our President is Indirectly Elected. He / She is elected by an Electoral College (i,e the persons having right to vote in a particular election) consists of Elected Members of both houses of Parliament, Elected Members of Legislative Assemblies of 28 States and elected members of Legislative Assemblies of three UTs (Delhi, Puducherry & J&K). Nominated members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies do not have the right to vote in election of President.
Total No. of Electoral College Members at Present
543 Elected Members of Lok Sabha + 233 Elected Members of Rajya Sabha = 776
+
Elected Members of 28 state Legislative Assemblies & + Elected Members of 3 UTs Legislative Assemblies. = 4033
Vote value of an MLA = Population of the state (in 1971) / No. of elected members in state legislative assembly * 100
Let us find out vote value of an MLA of UP = 84000000 / 403 * 1000 = 208
Vote value of an MLA of Sikkim = 209000 / 32 * 1000 = 7
Vote value of an MLA of Delhi = 4065000 / 70 * 1000 = 58
By this formula we can find out vote value of an MLA of 28 states & 3 UTs
Then we find out total vote value of all MLAs of India as follows.
Total vote value of UP = 208 × 403 = 83824
Total vote value of Sikkim = 7 × 32 = 224
Total vote value of Delhi = 58 × 70 = 4060
Total vote value of Karnataka = ,, ,,
Total vote value of Bihar = ,, ,,
etc. = ,, ,,
Total vote value of all MLAs of 28 states & 3 UTs = 550000 (App.)
By this formula we can find out total vote value of all MLAs of India which is about 550000.
Our Constitution states that the total vote value of all MLAs shall be equal to all MPs. We have 543 elected members in Lok Sabha and 233 in Rajya Sabha. Total 776. The total vote value of these 776 member is about 550000. So vote value of an MP is 550000/776 = 708.
So Max vote value of a state is MLA of UP (208), Minimum vote value is of an MLA of a state is Sikkim (7) and vote value of an MP is (708).
System of Election: Election is made by system of Proportional Representation System by Single transferable vote. Election is conducted simultaneously at Parliament House & 31 Legislative Assemblies. Election is by secret ballot. Political parties are not allowed to issue WHIP in Presidential Election. Generally MPs cast their votes at Parliament House & MLAs at their respective State Legislative Assemblies. All ballot boxes are brought to Delhi and first of all, all valid votes are counted. In this presidential last elections (2017) elections, we had total of 550000 votes of MLAs and 550000 votes of MPs (Total 1100000 votes (app)). Since all voters do not cast their vote and some votes are declared invalid by election commission, let us presume that 1060000 votes were valid and 7 candidates were contesting the election. Then a Quota is calculated by EC as under
Quota = (Total no. of votes / Total no. of candidates to be elected + 1) + 1
= (1060000 / 1+1) + 1 = 530000 + 1 = 530001
Any candidate who secures this quota is declared as successful & becomes next President of India. In last elections in 2017, quota was 534680.
Sample Image of a Ballot Paper is printed below.
| Name of the Candidates. | Preference for example. |
|---|---|
| A | 2 |
| B | 7 |
| C | 1 |
| D | 4 |
| E | 6 |
| F | 5 |
| G | 3 |
Every voter has to mark his/her preference on the ballot paper. First of all, invalid votes are separated and rejected. Then first preference votes are counted. If any candidates receives the desired quota, he is declared as elected. If none of the candidate receives the desired quota then the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and second preference votes are counted. Then if any candidates secures the desired quota, by adding 1st and 2nd preference vote, then he is declared elected and this process continues till a candidate gets the desired quota. Only in 1969, Sh. V.V. Giri was elected as President by counting second preference vote. In 1977, Sh. Neelam Sanjeev Reddy was elected unopposed
In the last presidential election held in July 2022 . the vote details are as follows 4754 electorial college members casted their votes representing 1072377 votes . Total number of invalid votes 53, representing vote value of 15397. Total valid votes 4701 representing total vote value 1056980 votes.
Quota = (1056980 / 1+1) + 1 = 528490 + 1 = 528491
In this Election,Mrs. Droupadi Murmu got 676803 votes & Mr. Yashwant Sinha 380177 votes. Mrs. Murmu defeated him by 296626 votes and got elected and became 15th President of India on 25th July 2022.
The salary of our President is Rs. 5 Lakh per month and is taxable.
The salary of our President is Rs. 5 Lakh per month and is taxable.
Joint sitting of Parliament is Presided by Speaker of Lok Sabha.
To eliminate non-serious candidates, the nomination paper of a candidate must be proposed by at least 50 members of electoral college and seconded by at least 50 members of electoral college. All candidates have to submit security deposit of Rs. 15000/-. Security deposit of candidates securing less than 1/6 of valid votes in forfeited. Secretary General of Lok Sabha & Secretary General of Rajya Sabha are appointed returning officer alternatively in Presidential election
Impeachment of President: Art. 61 Although the tenure of President is fixed and he cannot be removed before completion of his tenure but as an exception, he can be removed by Process of Impeachment as mentioned in Art 61 of the Constitution. Only our Parliament Can Impeach President on Charges of
1) Violation of Constitution or
2)If President has committed heinous crime such as rape, murder etc.
Impeachment motion can be introduced in either houses of Parliament. It has to be passed separately by each houses by special majority (i,e, 2/3rd majority). In India impeachment motion has never been introduced in any house of parliament to remove any President from his post.
Ms Dilma Rouseff, President of Brazil was impeached and removed in Aug 2016 for finding guilty of breaking budgetary laws and removed from her office.
Ms Park Geun Hye, President of S. Korea was impeached & removed in March 2017 from her office on corruption and abuse of power and currently she is in Jail.
Pardoning Power of President Art 72: President under Art. 72 have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law. President can grant pardon to a person awarded even death sentence. Governor of a state too under Art. 161 have pardoning power but his powers are less than the pardoning power of President. A state governor cannot waive death sentence of a convicted but can grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law.
Elections of US President
President of US is indirectly elected. US citizens directly elect 538 members of Electoral college. These 538 members elect President of US. In 2020 Elections, Mr. Joseph Joe Biden got 306 Electoral College votes out of the 538 votes and. Mr. Donald Trump got 232 votes, Requirement to get elected was more than half of 538 i,e 270 votes.
In case of death or resignation of President, Vice – President do assumed the office of President for the rest of the tenure of President . Elections of President are held only after 4 years. Election are held in the month of November and newly elected president do assume his office on 2othJanuary . In US , this is a Constitutional Provision that any US citizen cannot held the post of president for more than 2 terms. Also to contest the presidential election, the candidate must be US citizen by birth and not by descent , registration , naturalization etc.
Mr. Joseph Joe Biden was elected as 46th President of USA. He was sworn-in on 20th Jan 2021 and replaced Mr. Donald Trump.
In US, Elections of President & vice president are held simultaneously. Mrs. Kamala Harris became 49th vice President of USA and she replaced Mr. Mike Penes. She is the first women Vice President. Till date, no woman was elected as President in US.
Tenure of US President is four years & is fixed. He cannot be removed before completion of his tenure. The only exception is removal by Impeachment. US Parliament (Congress) has the power of Impeachment. Impeachment motion has to be passed by both Houses of Parliament (Congress) separately by 2/3rd majority. Till date no US President has been removed by Impeachment. Against three presidents of US, Impeachment motions have been introduced but not passed.
(1) Andrew Johnson 1868
(2) Bill Clinton 1998
(3) Donald Trump Two Times (In 2019 & 2021)
Election of 15th President Of India
• Election Commission of India has announced schedule for election of 15th President of India. The tenure of current President Shri Ram Nath Kovind is going to be completed on 25th July, 2022. Election of New President is a mandatory constitutional requirement before completion of his tenure (of Shri Ram Nath Kovind).
• President of India is elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of Parliament and elected members of State Legislative Assemblies including Legislative Assemblies of U.T.s of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. At present the Legislative Assembly of U.T. of Jammu and Kashmir does not exist i.e., U.T. of J&K does not have any elected MLAs, only elected members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from J&K will vote in the coming Presidential election.
• President of India is elected by system of proportional representation by single transferable vote. Presently, electoral college has 776 elected members of Parliament and 4033 elected members of State Legislative Assemblies and legislative Assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry.
• The lowest vote value is of an MLA of Sikkim (7) whereas maximum vote value is of an MLA of U.P. (208). The vote value of an elected member of Parliament is 708.
(NOTE: Nominated members of Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies do not take part in voting in election of President. Similarly, the members of State Legislative Councils (Vidhan Parishad) have no role in election of President).
• Notification for the election has been issued on 15th June,2022. Last date for filing of nominations is 29th June,2022. Last date of withdrawal of nomination 2nd July,2022. Elections if required will be held on 18th July,2022. Counting of votes and declaration of result on 21st July,2022.
• New President elect will be sworn in by Chief Justice of India on 25th July, 2022.
• The total no. of votes of M.P.s are 543200, total no. of votes of MLAs 543231. Total votes 1086431. Secretary General of Rajya Sabha (Shri Pramod Chandra Modi) has been appointed as Returning Officer for this election. Political parties cannot issue whip to its members to vote to a particular candidate only. Election is held through secret ballot. Anti-defection law is not applicable. All the members of electoral college have to mark their preferences on the ballot paper using a special pen provided by the Election Commission of India.
• The nomination paper of a candidate has to be proposed by at least 50 members of electoral college and seconded by 50 members of electoral college.
• A security deposit of Rs. 15000/- is to be deposited by every candidate. Security deposit of candidates securing less than 1/6th of valid votes polled is forfeited.
• Ms. Draupadi Murmu, former governor of Jharkhand will be the NDA nominee for 15th Presidential Election. She is a tribal leader who hails from Odisha. If elected, she would be the first tribal and 2nd woman President of India. Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, currently with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is the consensus candidate of 17 opposition parties.