How is the President of India is elected?

The executive power of the Union according to Article 63 is vested in the President and is exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinates to him in accordance with the constitution.

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Qualifications for Election as President:

1. No person shall be eligible for election as President unless he

• a) is a citizen of India
• b) has completed the age of thirty five years, and
• c) is qualified for election as a member of the House of the people,

2. A person shall not be eligible for, election as President if he holds any office of profit under the government of India or the government of any state or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments.

A person is not deemed to hold any office of profit by reason only that he is the President or Vice-President of the Union or the Governor of any state or a Minister either for the Union or for any state.

A person who holds or has held office as President is eligible for re-election.

It is to be noted that a naturalized citizen of the country is not ineligible for election as President.

Method of Election

The President is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of (a) the elected members of both Houses of Parliament.

It is laid down in the constitution that there should be uniformity in the scale of representation of the different states at the election of the President. For securing such uniformity among the states interest as well as party between the states as a whole and the union, the number of votes which each elected member of Parliament and of the Legislative Assembly of each state is entitled to cast at such election is determined in the following manner;

a) Every elected member of the Legislative Assembly has as many votes as there are multiple of one thousands in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the state by the total number of the elected members of the Assembly.

b) If after taking the multiples of one thousand, the remainder is not less than five hundred, the vote of each member shall be further increased by one. It may be expressed as follows:

Number of votes a Member of State Assembly shall cast = Population of the State / Total number of elected members of the State Legislative Assembly / 1000

c) Each elected member of either House of Parliament shall I have the number of votes as may be obtained by dividing the total number of votes assigned to the members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States by the total number of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament, fractions exceeding one-half being counted as one and the other fractions being disregarded. It may be expressed thus:

Number of votes each member of parliament shall cast =  Total number of votes assigned to the elected Legislative Assemblies of all states / Total number of the elected members of both House of Parliament

The election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional; representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot.

Conditions of President’s Office

The President shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of a state, and if a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of Legislature of any state be elected President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as President. The President shall not’ hold any other office of profit.

The President is entitled without payment 6f rent to the use of his official residence and is also entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by Parliament by law.

The emoluments and allowances of the President shall not be diminished during his term of office.

Term of office of President

The President’s term of office is five years from the date on which he enters upon his office, but he is eligible for re-election according to Article 57.

Procedure for Impeachment of President

The President may, for violation of the constitution, be removed from office by impeachment. The procedure for impeachment is as follows:

1. The charge of violating the constitution may be preferred by either House of Parliament.
2. The proposal to prefer a charge is to be contained in a resolution signed by not less than one-fourth of the total number of members of the House initiating impeachment.
3. A resolution for impeachment can be moved after at least fourteen day’s notice has been given by the members initiating impeachment.
4. Such a resolution should be passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House.
5. Then the other House shall investigate the charge or cause the charge to be investigated. The President has the right to appear and to be represented at such investigation.
6. If as a result of the investigation a resolution is passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House by which the charge has been investigated declaring that the charge preferred against the President has been sustained, such resolution shall have the effect of removing the President from his office as from the date on which the resolution is so passed.