UPPSC 2022 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 119 of 150

Correct — A, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. He never held the office of Vice-President. His route to Rashtrapati Bhavan ran through the legislature and the States: he was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, President of the Indian National Congress, and Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and he was elected President in 1977 unopposed, serving until 1982. The other three all served a full term as Vice-President immediately before moving up. Zakir Husain was Vice-President from 1962 to 1967 and then President from 1967 until his death in office in 1969. R. Venkataraman was Vice-President from 1984 to 1987 and President from 1987 to 1992. Shankar Dayal Sharma was Vice-President from 1987 to 1992 and President from 1992 to 1997 — he in fact succeeded Venkataraman in both offices in turn. So the only name on the list that never sat in the Vice-President's chair is Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.

• (b)R. Venkatraman — He did serve as Vice-President, from 1984 to 1987, under President Zail Singh, before becoming President himself from 1987 to 1992. He therefore fits the pattern the question is asking you to break, and cannot be the answer.
• (c)Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma — He too served as Vice-President first, from 1987 to 1992, and then as President from 1992 to 1997. His is the cleanest example of the sequence: he took over the Vice-Presidency from Venkataraman when Venkataraman moved to the Presidency, and five years later followed him into that office as well.
• (d)Dr. Zakir Hussain — He served as Vice-President from 1962 to 1967 before becoming President in 1967, so he does not answer the question either. His term is worth remembering for a different reason: he died in office in 1969, and Vice-President V. V. Giri stepped in as acting President — Article 65 of the Constitution working exactly as designed.

The Constitution treats the Vice-Presidency as a standby office rather than a training post. Article 63 provides that there shall be a Vice-President; Article 64 makes him the ex-officio Chairman of the Council of States, which is his only regular duty; and Article 65 provides that he shall act as President when a vacancy arises through death, resignation, removal or otherwise, until a new President is elected. The two offices are also filled by different electorates, which is the distinction most often tested. Under Article 54 the President is elected by an electoral college of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament together with the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States — so nominated members are excluded and the States take part. Under Article 66 the Vice-President is elected by the members of both Houses of Parliament, including nominated members, and the States have no role at all. In practice, though not by any rule, the Vice-Presidency has often been a step towards the Presidency: the Vice-Presidents who later became President are S. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, V. V. Giri, R. Venkataraman, Shankar Dayal Sharma and K. R. Narayanan.

The question is designed so that the pattern itself supplies three of the four answers. Once you know that the Vice-Presidency has frequently been a stepping stone, you are looking not for who took that route but for who did not — and the exception is the man who came from the Speaker's chair. That is the useful way to store this: Neelam Sanjiva Reddy is the President who arrived from the Lok Sabha, not from the Rajya Sabha's chair. Two other names belong in the same bucket and turn up in the same questions. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was a Union minister before becoming President in 1974, and Mohammad Hidayatullah was Chief Justice of India and later Vice-President but never President — the reverse trap. UPSC used exactly that pair in 2008. A further caution about Reddy: he served as Speaker twice, and he was elected President unopposed in 1977 after the Janata Party's victory, which is why his name is attached to the constitutional trivia about unopposed presidential elections.

• Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was never Vice-President. He was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Congress President and Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and was elected President unopposed in 1977, serving until 1982.
• Zakir Husain was Vice-President 1962-67 and President 1967-69, dying in office; R. Venkataraman was Vice-President 1984-87 and President 1987-92; Shankar Dayal Sharma was Vice-President 1987-92 and President 1992-97.
• The Vice-Presidents who went on to become President are S. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, V. V. Giri, R. Venkataraman, Shankar Dayal Sharma and K. R. Narayanan.
• Article 63 creates the office, Article 64 makes the Vice-President ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and Article 65 provides that he acts as President when a vacancy occurs — as V. V. Giri did in 1969.
• The electorates differ: under Article 54 the President is elected by elected MPs and elected MLAs, while under Article 66 the Vice-President is elected by the members of both Houses of Parliament including nominated members, with no role for the States.

• Assuming the Vice-Presidency is a required step to the Presidency; it is a common route but not a rule, and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed both reached the Presidency without it
• The reverse confusion: Mohammad Hidayatullah was Chief Justice of India and later Vice-President, and acted as President, but was never elected President
• Mixing up the two electoral colleges — the States and only elected members vote for the President, while for the Vice-President only Parliament votes, nominated members included

Both papers test the two offices from opposite ends. UPSC asks who did or did not hold a named office, and then probes the machinery — how the electoral college is composed, where a removal resolution must originate. UPPSC asks the same personnel facts and adds close constitutional detail, such as what becomes of the acts of a Vice-President whose election is later declared void.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Who among the following served as Vice-President of India and also acted as President, but was never elected President?

  • (a)V. V. Giri
  • (b)Mohammad Hidayatullah
  • (c)R. Venkataraman
  • (d)Zakir Husain

  Answer(b) Mohammad Hidayatullah — a former Chief Justice of India, he was Vice-President from 1979 to 1984 and acted as President, but never held the office in his own right. V. V. Giri, by contrast, acted as President in 1969 and was then elected to the office.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following correctly distinguishes the two electoral colleges?

  • (a)Nominated members of Parliament vote in the presidential election but not in the vice-presidential election
  • (b)Members of State Legislative Assemblies vote in both elections
  • (c)Nominated members of Parliament vote in the vice-presidential election, while the presidential electoral college is confined to elected members of Parliament and of the State Legislative Assemblies
  • (d)Both elections are conducted only by the members of the Rajya Sabha

  Answer(c) Nominated members of Parliament vote in the vice-presidential election, while the presidential electoral college is confined to elected members of Parliament and of the State Legislative Assemblies — the contrast between Article 54 and Article 66.