Author: Vandana, II year of B.A.,LL.B. from SRM UNIVERSITY
ABSTRACT
“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back onthe fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”[1]
- “Abraham Lincoln”
India, that is Bharat, is the country with 3.287million square kilometer of area, bounded by the great Himalayas in North and spread to Indian Ocean in South, widely known for its motto of “Unity in Diversity[2]”. India has a long historical past from Mughals to Britishers that plays crucial role in shaping and re-structuring India, especially its political arena. India has a long historical past played an crucial role in shaping and re-structuring the political regime of the country. Certainly, there is no wonder in the view of fact that familiarity with the system , collective responsibility , and nature of Indian society made us to opt for the parliamentary system of government over the presidential one [3].
The same idea has been promulgated by DrAmbedkar in his constituent assembly debate that
“A democratic executive must satisfy two conditions: stability and responsibility. Unfortunately, it has not been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure a both in equal degree. The American system gives more stability but less responsibility. The British system, on the other hand, gives more responsibility but less stability. The -Draft Constitution in recommending the parliamentary system of Executive has preferred more responsibility to more stability.”[4]
In a parliamentary form of government, the President is the nominal leader (De Jure) of the country and the country's first person and works with the help and advice of the Cabinet and the President. But the point to ponder over is on the election process of the president which is based onmechanism of indirect election.As Article 55 of the constitution of India determine manner of election of president.[5]
After the repeal of article 370, the state's constituencies have changed, and this article will mainly deal with changes in elections. The President appointed the university after the repeal of Article 370.
KEYWORDS
Article 370 of the Constitution, Certificate of Non-Representation, Employment of Representatives, Employment Bureau, Federal Law, Single Election, Presidential and Presidential Election Act, 1952
INTRODUCTION AND MECHANISM OF PRESIDENT ELECTION
The Article 52 of constitution states that “There shall be a President of India.” which indicates that there is mandate of office of the president[6]. This shows the authority of the president. But the question is how such leaders are chosen. To strengthen and reform this constitution, the Legislature passed the Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections Act of 1952, along with the rules made under that law.
TO QUALIFY AS PRESIDENT OF INDIA
There are certain prior conditions which needs to be fulfilled to qualify the eligible of the president of India. The article 58 describes the same as :
“Art 58. Deals with the Qualifications for election as President:
(1) No person shall be eligible for election as President unless he
(a) is a citizen of India,
(b) has completed the age of thirty five years, and
(c) is qualified for election as a member of the House of the People
(2) A person shall not be eligible for election as President if he holds any office of profit under the or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments Explanation For the purposes of this article, a person shall not be deemed to hold any office of profit by reason only that he is the President or VicePresident of the Union or the Governor of any State or is a Minister either for the Union or for any State”[7]
The lifeblood of election of president is enshrined in the Article 54 and 55 of constitution which are as follows:
“Article 54 states that
The President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of – (a) the elected members of both Houses of Parliament; and (b) the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. Explanation: In this article and in article 55, “State” includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union territory of Pondicherry.[8]
Art55. Manner of election of President
(1) As far as practicable, there shall be uniformity in the scale of representation of the d different States at the election of the President
(2) For the purpose of securing such uniformity among the States inter se as well as parity b between the States as a whole and the Union, the number of votes which each elected member of Parliament and of the Legislative Assembly of each State is entitled to cast at such election shall be determined in the following manner:
(a) every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State shall have as many votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the State by the total number of the elected members of the Assembly;
(b) if, after taking the said multiples of one thousand, the remainder is not less than five hundred, then the vote of each member referred to in sub clause (a) shall be further increased by one;
(c) each elected member of either House of Parliament shall have such number of votes as may be obtained by dividing the total number of votes assigned to the members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States under sub clause (a) and (b) by the total number of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament, fractions exceeding one half being counted as one and other fractions being disregarded
(3) The election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot Explanation n this article, the expression population means the population ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published: Provided that the reference in this Explanation to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2000 have been published, be construed as a reference to the 1971 census”.[9]
OFFICE OF PROFIT
The idea of "working for profit" was preluded to ensure the independence of the legislature and to avoid conflicts of interest that can arise if a member of the legislature and his or her work as a leader work hard. finance and financial support[10]. Under Indian law, a profit office is defined as an office or designation created by or on behalf of a government, including local government, state government or local government. If anyone is in this position, he should resign before he becomes president..
ELECTORAL QUALIFICATIONS
The Electoral Board consists of members elected by the Indian Parliament, the states Legislative Councils and the Ministry of Justice, Delhi Justice and Pondicherry who appoints the President in his capacity as Head of State.
INDIRECT ELECTION
When citizens of a country directly elect their representatives, it is called direct elections. An example of direct election is the Lok Sabha election. For example, in indirect elections, the voters who ultimately elect their representatives are chosen by the electorate rather than the actual voters (i.e. the people).
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Although the electoral board is established by the legislature, not all members of the legislature have the right to vote in the presidential election. Deputies can be divided into two groups according to the distance they come from:
Elected Members of Parliament These deputies are elected by election. This refers to those who participate in the Lok Sabha or the State Legislature as by-election or state legislature
In the case of Rajya Sabha, it refers to those who join the House of Representatives after elections have been held in the state legislature to which they are concerned.
Nominee Members
These legislators are appointed by the President or Governor (if applicable) without going through the selection process. Elected members include:
• 2 members appointed by the central government to the Rajya Sabha to represent the Anglo-Indian community;
• If the state government decides that the community is represented in the Legislative Assembly, 1 member is elected by the state government on behalf of the state. Firstly, Only elected members of the Parliament i.eloksabha and rajyasabha and secondly ,state legislatures can vote in presidential elections. Therefore, candidates are not eligible.
Also, those belonging to VidhanParishad (states with Electoral Colleges) cannot hold office in Electoral Colleges.
PARTICIPATION OF UNION TERRIOTORY IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Interestingly, the 70th Amendment Act to the Indian Constitution, allows union territory of Puducherry and delhi only to participate in the election due to presence of the state legislative assembly in these states. It implies that rest of union territory cannot participate in election
ELECTORAL COMMITTEE VOTE SHARE
Not only is the election of the President conducted through an electoral college, but it also doesn’t follow the concept of “one man, one vote.” Given the fact that the election is an indirect one, and geared to represent the choice of the country as a whole, the Constitution prescribes a specific formula to calculate the value of the vote cast by every elector.
The election of president is different from other elections as it is not based on the concept of “one vote for one man” .There is totally different methodology used for calculating the value of the vote casted, which is based on principle of uniformity and parity .
· Uniformity
This principle was enshrined to provide the equal status of all states , neglecting the differences in their size , population or otherwise.
· Parity
This model aims to achieve equality between all Indian states and the Union territories in order to preserve the idea of federal structure.
This model preludes several ways to calculate MP and MLA weights.
Calculation of the vote share of an MLA
SINGLE TRANSFERRABLE VOTE
The basic origin of this mechanism can be traced back to Britain ,Northern Ireland ,the Republic of Ireland ,Malta Scotland and Australia. This system is also known as “the ranked choice system” based on the proportionate representation.
Electoral Quotas= {total number of valid votes /(no. of vacancy+1)}+1
The working of this system depends on the quotas ,in which the candidate who manages to secure more number one than quota , wins and is elected. In case , no candidate is able to pass the quota ,then counting is done to eliminate the least popular leader.
Illustration
Let take a hypothetical example of presidential election where the total number of valid voter(let say) be 200
Case1
Candidate | Vaild votes |
A | 88 |
B | 35 |
C | 25 |
D | 52 |
TOTAL | 200 |
In this scenario the the candidate should get atleast 101 valid votes to win the election i.e (50%plus 1) .But here in the scenario ,the candidate A gets only 88 votes and need 13 more votes to win the election .
Therefore ,we will look for the second preference of the people in order to win the election as voting was based on the single transferrable votes and for this , we will eliminate the candidate with the least number of votes.
Case2
Second round counting
Candidate | Vaild votes |
A | 88+10=98 |
B | 35+8=43 |
D | 52+7=59 |
TOTAL | 200 |
Herein ,the candidate C has the least number of votes .therefore ,we will look for the second preference of the voters of candidate C.
Let say ,out of 25 valid voters that C has obtained :
A is second preference of 10 candidates
B is second preference of 8 candidates
D is second preference of 7candidates
It is observed that still,no candidate manage to win .henceforth, third round counting will take place and the process will be caried out further
Case 3
Third round counting
Candidate | Vaild votes |
A | 88+10+18+5=121 |
D | 52+7+17+3=79 |
TOTAL | 200 |
Herein ,the candidate B has the least number of votes .therefore ,we will look for the second preference of the voters of candidate B
Let say ,out of 35 valid voters that B has obtained :
A is second preference of 18 candidates
D is second preference of 17candidates
And we will look for the third preference of the votes attained by B i.e 8 votes which were transferred from C to B
A is second preference of 5 candidates
D is second preference of 3candidates
Therefore ,it can be seen the A pass the said criteria and win the election with 121 votes i.e 60.5%
VACANCY IN OFFICE OF PREDIENT
The office of president gets vacate on the following scenario:
1. Due to death
2. by Resignation
3. By removal or Impeachment
4. On expiry of the term period of president
CHANGES IN ELECTORAL COLLEGE OF PRESIDENT AFTER ABROGATION OF ARTICLE 370
Article 370 of constitution is perceived as the temporary provision which provides Jammu and Kashmir a special status .But , it is seen that after abolition of article 370 , Jammu and Kashmir gets divide into two territories and Union territories of j&k will have a legislature and Ladakh will have no legislative assembly similar to Chandigarh.
As per the people representation act, the state legislature was dissolved and the new legislative assembly was yet to be reconstituted .Henceforth , It was not supposed to participate in the presidential election of 2022.In the presidential election of 2022 , 87 MLA of J&K were removed from the total number of MLA of 4120. “Moreover out of 771 MP entitled to votE (05 VACANT) and similarily out of total 4025 MLA entitled to vote (06 vacant and 02 disqulified
CONCLUSION
In the 2022 presidential election BJP candidate DrapadiMurmu contested against Yashwant Sinha . “Murmu benefited from cross-voting in her favour, as she got 1,349 votes valued at 483,299 out of 1,886 votes valued at 673,175 after the third round, in which votes cast by MPs and MLAs of ten states were covered. Sinha polled 537 votes valued at 189,876.The former governor of Jharkhand took a big lead after the first round of counting, which covered the votes cast by MPs, winning 540 votes valued at 378,000 out of the total 748 valid votes valued at 523,600. Sinha got 208 votes valued at 145,600, while votes of 15 MPs were declared invalid.” [1]Murmu wins the elction with 64% of votes and became the first female tribal president of India
[1]The economic times,https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/droupadi-murmu-elected-15th-president-of-india/article65667766.ece,(last accessed on 8 may,2023)
[1]https://www.slideserve.com/briar/civil-war-timeline(last accessed on 8 may,2023)
[2]https://knowindia.gov.in/profile/the-union.php(last accessed on 8 may,2023)
[3]https://archive.org/stream/political-science-books/INDIAN%20POLITY%20M.%20LAXMIKANTH%20NEW_djvu.txt(last accessed on 8 may,2023)
[4]M laxmi kanth ,Indian polity,6th edition (last accessed on 8 may,2023)
[5]http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/FAQ_08062017.pdf(last accessed on 8 may,2023)
[6]Constitution of India 1950
[7]Constitution of India 1950
[8]Constitution of India 1950
[9]Constitution of India,1950
[10]https://blog.ipleaders.in/president-election/(last accessed on 8 may,2023)
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