President of India

By Vivek Chauhan|Updated : June 22nd, 2022

The President of India is both the head of state and the country's first citizen. Article 54 of the Indian Constitution states that the President of India will be elected. Shri Ram Nath Kovind, the 14th President of India, is the current President of India. 

 

Who elects India's President?

  • The President of India, like any other democracy, is elected indirectly by the people of the country.
  • The electoral college is used in the Presidential elections, which means that all of the representatives elected by the people of India to various public offices at the state and national levels vote to elect the President.
  • An electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of states and the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. 
  • There are 776 members of Parliament (543 Lok Sabha MPs, 233 Rajya Sabha MPs) and 4,809 members of state legislative legislatures in the electoral college.
  • The electoral college has a total of 10,86,431 votes. Each elector's vote (MP/MLA) has a predetermined value. 

Who does not take part in the President’s elections?

The following group of people is not involved in electing the President of India:

  • Nominated Members of Rajya Sabha (12)
  • Nominated Members of State Legislative Assemblies
  • Members of Legislative Councils (Both elected and nominated) in bicameral legislatures
  • Nominated Members of union territories of Delhi and Puducherry

What are the qualifications of the President?

A candidate has to meet some qualifications to be elected as the president. Those qualifications of the President are:

  • He should be an Indian Citizen
  • His age should be a minimum of 35 years
  • He should qualify the conditions to be elected as a member of the Lok Sabha
  • He should not hold any office of profit under the central government, state government, or any public authority

What are the conditions of the President’s office?

There are a few conditions for the candidate running for the President’s elections:

  • He cannot be a member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. If he has been a member of either of the house, he should vacate the seat on his first day as President in the office
  • He should not hold any office of profit
  • For his residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan is provided to him without the payment of rent
  • Parliament decides his emoluments, allowances and privileges
  • Parliament cannot diminish his emoluments and allowances during his term of office
  • He is given immunity from any criminal proceedings, even in respect of his personal acts
    Arrest or imprisonment of the President cannot take place. Only civil proceedings can be initiated for his personal acts that too after giving two months’ of prior notice.

"Anyone fulfilling the above mentioned conditions can become president of India."

Procedure of voting

  • A single transferable vote is used in the presidential election, which follows the proportional representation system. There are no election symbols on the ballot paper. On the ballot paper, there are two columns.
  • The names of the candidates are listed in the first column. The order of preference is listed in the second column.
    A member of the electoral college votes by entering figure 1 next to the contestant's name in the area provided.
  • The voter can indicate as many consecutive preferences on the voting paper as he or she likes by writing the numbers 2, 3, 4, and so on next to the names of the contenders. No ballot paper is deemed invalid just because all of the electoral college member's preferences are not marked.
  • Despite the fact that there have only been 14 Presidents since Dr. Rajendra Prasad won the first two elections, the Presidential election in 2022 will be the 16th for the highest constitutional post in India.
  • President of India elections have previously taken place in 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017.

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