Report by Yashasvi Anika Tandon
The presidential elections of India are round the corner.
The President of India is referred to as our first citizen. He/she is the Supreme Head of the 3 defence forces – Army, Navy, and Airforce.
He/she is a member of the Union Executive as well. Shri Ram nath Kovind is the current president of India. The candidate chosen by the central government (BJP) is Smt. Draupadi Murmu. The candidate chosen by the opposition is Shri Yashwant Sinha. Whoever of the two wins, will take office on July 21, 2022.
The Vice Presidential Elections have also been notified. They will take place on the 6th of August, 2022 in the same way as the Presidential elections. The current Vice President of India is Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu. After the elections, a new Vice President will take office.
Eligibility to become President
There are a few criteria for a person to run for a President of India:
1. He or she has to be a citizen of India.
2. He or she must be 35 years old or more.
3. It is necessary for him or her to be part of the House of People.
4. He or she must not be holdng any office of profit (any sort of financial gain).
5. Although a person can run for president if he or she is a President, Vice President, Governor, or Chief Minister.
The Process of Elections
Based on article 52-62 of the Indian Constitution, the President of India is elected. An Indian President is not elected directly by the people but indirectly by the Electoral College through a secret ballot in a parliament house room. Both MLAs and MPs can vote.
An MLA has to use pink ink while the MPs have to use green ink for elections.
The proportional representation system is followed using the transferable vote method. The proportional representation is an electoral system where political parties obtain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast in their favour in the State or Central elections. Similarly, vote transfer means that the candidate that has the least votes is eliminated and his or her votes transferred to the candidates still present in the election.
The Electoral Quota is
(Total valid votes cast / 2) + 1
If any problem or dispute occurs the Supreme Court intervenes and solves the problem. This is the only involvement of the Supreme Court.
The current President- Shri Ram Nath Kovind
The BJP candidate – Sushri Draupadi Murmu
The Opposition Candidate – Shri Yashwant Sinha
The current Vice President – Shri Venkaiah Naidu