Which one of the following statements about the election of the President of India is not correct?
- (a)A Union Minister shall not be eligible for election as the President.
- (b)The President is elected by the elected members of the Parliament and the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories.
- (c)The Electoral College does not include elected members of the Legislative Councils.
- (d)The system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote is followed.
Correct — A, A Union Minister shall not be eligible for election as the President. This is the statement that is not correct, and the Constitution says so in as many words. Article 58(2) disqualifies a person who holds any office of profit under the Government of India or of any State, but the Explanation to that Article adds: 'a person shall not be 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 is a Minister either for the Union or for any State.' A Union Minister is therefore expressly eligible. The other three statements survive. Article 54 confines the electoral college to elected members, so Legislative Councils are outside it, and Article 55(3) prescribes proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote with voting by secret ballot.
- (b)The President is elected by the elected members of the Parliament and the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories. — Correct in what it asserts, and therefore not the answer. It carefully says 'elected members', which is what Article 54 requires. It is loosely worded on Union Territories, since the Explanation to Article 54 brings in only the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry rather than all Union Territories — but a stem asking for the statement that is not correct is answered by (a), which the Constitution contradicts outright.
- (c)The Electoral College does not include elected members of the Legislative Councils. — Correct. Article 54 names the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. Legislative Councils find no place in it, which is why members of a State's upper house have no vote in a presidential election.
- (d)The system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote is followed. — Correct. Article 55(3) requires the election to be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, with a secret ballot.
The President is elected indirectly by an electoral college of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies, with Delhi and Puducherry added by the Seventieth Amendment of 1992. Article 55 builds uniformity into the count: each MLA's vote is worth as many multiples of one thousand as the State's population divided by its elected Assembly seats, and each MP's vote is fixed so that the total value of the parliamentary votes equals the total value of the Assembly votes. Population for this purpose still means the 1971 census figure. The election runs on the single transferable vote, so a winner needs a quota rather than a simple plurality.
Negative-stem items on the presidential election are almost always decided by Articles 54, 55 and 58, and it pays to know which Article carries which rule. Here the discriminator is the Explanation to Article 58(2) — the small print that stops the office-of-profit bar from disqualifying the very people who normally contest, namely sitting Ministers, Governors and the incumbent President and Vice-President. Two candidates who took office as President while holding ministerial or gubernatorial posts are the practical illustration of why the Explanation exists. One honest observation about this paper's drafting: option (b) is imprecise, because the Constitution's electoral college takes in only two Union Territories rather than Union Territories generally. It is loose rather than false, and it does not compete with the flat contradiction in option (a), but a careful candidate will have noticed the slack and should not be unsettled by it.
- Article 58(2) bars a holder of an office of profit, but its Explanation expressly saves the President, the Vice-President, a Governor and a Minister of the Union or of a State.
- Article 54 confines the electoral college to elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies.
- The Explanation to Article 54, inserted by the Seventieth Amendment of 1992, brings in the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
- Article 55(3) requires proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, with voting by secret ballot.
- Population for calculating the value of an MLA's vote means the figure of the 1971 census until the figures of the first census after 2026 are published.
- Forgetting the Explanation to Article 58(2), which is exactly what this item tests.
- Including nominated members or members of Legislative Councils in the electoral college.
- Assuming all Union Territories take part; only Delhi and Puducherry do.
As a negative-stem item on the presidential election, or as a statements question on the composition of the electoral college and the value of votes.
Which one of the following is part of the electoral college for the election of the President of India but does not form part of the forum for his impeachment?
- (a) Lok Sabha
- (b) Rajya Sabha
- (c) State Legislative Councils
- (d) State Legislative Assemblies
Answer(d) State Legislative Assemblies
The same electoral college, tested against the impeachment forum. Its own wrong option, State Legislative Councils, is precisely the body this question's option (c) correctly keeps out of the college.
With reference to the election of the President of India, consider the following statements: 1. The value of the vote of each MLA varies from State to State. 2. The value of the vote of MPs of the Lok Sabha is more than the value of the vote of MPs of the Rajya Sabha. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(a) 1 only
The arithmetic half of Article 55. An MLA's vote is scaled by the State's population, so it varies, while every elected MP carries the same value whichever House he sits in.
CDS_GK_2022_II_Q792022Which one of the following best describes the electoral system to elect the President of India ?
- (a) Proportional Representation
- (b) Proportional Representation and Single Transferable Vote System
- (c) First-Past-the-Post System
- (d) List System
Answer(b) Proportional Representation and Single Transferable Vote System
The method named in option (d) of this question, asked directly. CDS has set it at least twice in successive years, so the phrase from Article 55(3) is worth holding word for word.
CDS_GK_2022_I_Q922022Which one of the following methods is followed in electing the President of India?
- (a) Proportional Representation only
- (b) First-Past-the-Post System only
- (c) Proportional Representation and the Single Transferable Vote System
- (d) Proportional Representation and the First-Past-the-Post System
Answer(c) Proportional Representation and the Single Transferable Vote System
The same question from the earlier session of the same year, with the options reshuffled. Both items reward remembering that proportional representation alone is not a complete answer without the single transferable vote.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following do NOT take part in the election of the President of India?
- (a)Elected members of the Lok Sabha
- (b)Elected members of the Rajya Sabha
- (c)Elected members of State Legislative Councils
- (d)Elected members of State Legislative Assemblies
Answer(c) Elected members of State Legislative Councils — Article 54 names only the two Houses of Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under the Constitution of India, which of the following is NOT deemed to hold an office of profit for the purpose of eligibility for election as President?
- (a)A Union Minister
- (b)A judge of a High Court
- (c)The Comptroller and Auditor General
- (d)A member of the Union Public Service Commission
Answer(a) A Union Minister — the Explanation to Article 58(2) expressly saves Ministers of the Union or of a State, along with the President, the Vice-President and a Governor.