The President: Election, Qualifications and Impeachment

Prerequisites

• Preamble and Salient Features of the Constitution — why India chose a parliamentary system with a nominal head of State.
• Parliament — the two Houses whose members elect and can impeach the President.
• State Executive and Legislature — State Legislative Assemblies are part of the electoral college.

The Hook: 90 Ballots in Raipur

Why it matters: The President’s election (electoral college, value of votes, who is excluded) and impeachment (who participates, what majority) are among the most repeated Prelims statements in Polity. Mains asks why India adopted an indirect election and how the President differs from a ceremonial monarch.

The Office in One Line

Article 52: “There shall be a President of India.” Article 53: the executive power of the Union is vested in the President and is exercised by him directly or through officers subordinate to him, in accordance with the Constitution. The supreme command of the Defence Forces is also vested in the President (Art 53(2)).

The President (राष्ट्रपति) is the head of the State, the first citizen, and the symbol of the unity of the nation. Real executive power, however, lies with the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister (Art 74). See Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

Articles 52–62 at a Glance

Election of the President (Articles 54–55)

Who votes: the electoral college (निर्वाचक मंडल)

How votes are valued (Art 55)

The Constitution wants uniformity among States (an MLA from a populous State carries more weight) and parity between the States and the Union (all MPs together carry the same total weight as all MLAs together).

• Population is taken from the 1971 Census. The 84th Amendment (2001) keeps it frozen until the figures of the first Census taken after 2026 are published.
• In 2022 the value of an MP’s vote fell to 700 (from 708 in 2017) because Jammu and Kashmir had no Legislative Assembly at the time.

The voting system

• Proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (STV) (एकल संक्रमणीय मत), by secret ballot.
• Electors mark preferences. To win, a candidate must secure a quota: more than half of the valid votes (by value). If no one reaches it on first preferences, the lowest candidate is eliminated and his ballots are transferred by the next preference.
• The term “proportional representation” is a misnomer here: there is only one seat, so in practice it works as a preferential, absolute-majority system.
• The Election Commission of India conducts the election (Art 324). The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952 requires a nomination to be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 as seconders, with a security deposit of ₹15,000 (raised to these levels in 1997).

Disputes (Art 71)

• All doubts and disputes about the election are decided only by the Supreme Court, whose decision is final.
• The election cannot be challenged on the ground that the electoral college was incomplete (for example, a dissolved Assembly). This was made explicit by the 11th Amendment (1961).
• If the election is declared void, acts done before the decision remain valid.

Qualifications, Oath and Conditions (Articles 58–60)

Term, Resignation and Re-election (Articles 56–57)

• Term: five years from the date of entering office.
• Resignation: addressed to the Vice-President, who must inform the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• The President continues in office until the successor enters upon it, even after the five years end.
• Re-election: eligible any number of times (Art 57). Only Dr. Rajendra Prasad has been elected twice (1952 and 1957).

Impeachment (महाभियोग): Article 61

The only ground is “violation of the Constitution”, a term the Constitution does not define. No President has ever been impeached.

flowchart TD
    A["Charge signed by at least 1/4 of the
total members of EITHER House"] --> B["14 days' written notice
to the President"]
    B --> C["Resolution passed by at least 2/3 of
the TOTAL membership of that House"]
    C --> D["Other House investigates the charge
(President may appear or be represented)"]
    D --> E["Other House also passes it by 2/3
of its TOTAL membership"]
    E --> F["President stands removed
from the date of passing"]

Vacancy (Article 62 and Article 65)

Only instance of a CJI acting as President: Justice M. Hidayatullah in 1969, after President Zakir Husain died in office and Vice-President V.V. Giri resigned to contest the presidential election.

Analysis for Mains: A Nominal but Not a Rubber-Stamp Head

• British model, Indian adaptation. Like the British Crown, the President “reigns but does not rule”: he acts on ministerial advice (Art 74). Unlike the Crown, he is elected, has a fixed term, can be impeached, and swears to defend the Constitution, which gives the office a guardian role.
• Federal legitimacy. Because State MLAs vote, the President represents the States as well as the Centre. This is why a State Assembly’s dissolution was never allowed to stall the election (11th Amendment).
• Symbolism and inclusion. The elections of K.R. Narayanan (first Dalit President, 1997), Pratibha Patil (first woman President, 2007) and Droupadi Murmu (first President from a Scheduled Tribe, 2022) have been read as signals of social inclusion. For a State where roughly a third of the population is Scheduled Tribe (Census 2011), Murmu’s election carried particular resonance.
• Criticism. Critics argue that the electoral college lets the ruling coalition effectively choose the President, and that the office’s powers depend on conventions rather than text. Defenders reply that an elected but indirect office keeps the President above party contests while preserving parliamentary supremacy.

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. The oath of the President is administered by the ______.
2. Elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry were added to the electoral college by the ______ Amendment.
3. The only ground for impeaching the President is ______.

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements regarding the election of the President of India:

1. Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha are part of the electoral college.
2. Elected members of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly are part of the electoral college.
3. The election is held by proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 and 2 only
• (b) 2 and 3 only
• (c) 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Which of the following participate in the impeachment of the President but not in his election?

• (a) Elected members of State Legislative Assemblies
• (b) Nominated members of both Houses of Parliament
• (c) Members of State Legislative Councils
• (d) Elected members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly

Q3. Match List I with List II:

• (a) A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4
• (b) A-1, B-3, C-4, D-2
• (c) A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4
• (d) A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3

Q4. If the offices of both the President and the Vice-President fall vacant at the same time, who discharges the functions of the President?

• (a) The Speaker of the Lok Sabha
• (b) The Prime Minister
• (c) The Chief Justice of India
• (d) The Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha

Q5. With reference to the value of votes in the presidential election, consider the following statements:

1. The value of an MLA’s vote is based on the population of the State as per the 1971 Census.
2. The value of an MP’s vote is the same as the value of the vote of an MLA of the most populous State.
3. The total value of the votes of all MPs is approximately equal to the total value of the votes of all MLAs.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 only
• (b) 2 and 3 only
• (c) 1 and 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. (150–200 words) Why did the Constitution makers prefer an indirect election for the President of India? Explain the features of the electoral system that secure the federal character of the office.

Q2. (60 words) Explain the procedure for the impeachment of the President.

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• Powers of the President — veto, ordinance, pardon and the question of discretion
• The Vice-President — the office that steps in when the President’s office is vacant
• Parliament — the Houses that impeach the President
• Formation of Chhattisgarh and its Administrative Structure — the State Assembly whose MLAs vote