Polity Notes

PRESIDENT

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 to and gave his witness. He was not issued any summon by the court.). President is supreme commander of our Armed Forces.

Tenure: Tenure of President is five years and is fixed i,e cannot be removed from his post before completion 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 Ram Nath Kovind took charge on 25th July 2017 and will hold the post till new President assumes office on 25th July 2022. Re-election is permissible but Dr. Rajendra Prasad made the convention that 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 & present President.

Sh. Pranav Mukherjee was our 13th President. Mrs. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil was the first and only women President of India. Sh. K.R. Narayanan was first President from dalit community and Sh. Ram Nath Kovind is Second.

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 Acting President for a maximum period of six months. It is mandatory for the Election Commission of India to conduct election of President within six months after the death or resignation by the President. Our two Presidents, Sh. Zakir Hussain & Sh. Fakruddin Ali Ahmed could not complete their tenure due to death.

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. 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 is election of President.

543 Elected Members of Lok Sabha
+
233 Elected Members of Rajya Sabha
+
Elected Members of 28 state Legislative Assemblies &
+
Elected Members of 3 UTs Legislative Assemblies.

In the election of President, vote value of MLAs of different states & UTs is different. Our Constitution has prescribed a formula to determine the vote value of an MLA as follows.

Vote value of an MLA = Population of the state (in 1971) / (No of elected members in state @Legislative Assembly*1000)

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 is 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 valid 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.

Sh. Ram Nath Kovid got 702044 votes & Mrs Meera Kumar 367314 votes. Sh. Kovind defeated her by nearly 3.5 Lakh votes and got elected and became 14th President of India on 25th July 2017.

The salary of our President is Rs. 5 Lakh per month and is taxable. Joint sitting of Parliament is called by our President.

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 death sentence Governor of a state too under Art. 161 have pardoning power but a governor of a state does not have this power.

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 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.

Ms. 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 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)