PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Organs of Government
How is the President of India elected? Outline the salient characteristics of the electoral college of the Indian President.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
R1 Anchor in text: Art 54 (election) + Art 55 (manner) → President indirectly elected → a constitutional head, not a popularly-mandated executive → Ambedkar: the President is “the head of the state’, not of the executive — represents the nation but does not rule it R2 Read the electoral college as a federal device → Union Parliament + State Assemblies vote together → the office mirrors the Union-State balance, not a popular majority
Body flow
Composition: elected MPs (both Houses) + elected MLAs of all States + Delhi and Puducherry Assemblies (70th Amendment) → nominated members and MLCs excluded → proportional representation by single transferable vote, secret ballot (Art 55(3)) → twin principles: uniformity among States + parity between the States and the Union → MLA vote = (State population, 1971 census + elected MLAs) + 1000; MP vote = (total MLA votes + elected MPs) → win = 50% of valid votes +1 → disputes → Art 71 → Supreme Court, final
Counter-view
The design draws criticism: “uniformity” is now notional → vote values still pegged to the 1971 census (84th Amendment) while State populations diverge → the federal mirror is only partial (most UTs excluded) → indirect election + intricate formula give legitimacy but no popular mandate
Conclusion routes
R1 The electoral college is a deliberate design — indirect + federal + proportional → a President who is a pan-Indian symbol with Union-and-State legitimacy, not a rival power centre R2 It balances democratic legitimacy with the parliamentary scheme → reform debates (census basis, UT inclusion) refine the edges, but the core logic holds
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
