{"id":1127,"date":"2026-08-09T18:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/pyq\/how-is-the-president-of-india-elected-outline-the-salient-upsc-psir-2017-1902\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T21:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:54:00","slug":"how-is-the-president-of-india-elected-outline-the-salient-upsc-psir-2017-1902","status":"publish","type":"psir_pyq","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/psir-pyq\/how-is-the-president-of-india-elected-outline-the-salient-upsc-psir-2017-1902\/","title":{"rendered":"How is the President of India elected? Outline the salient characteristics of the electoral college of the Indian President."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pq-flow\">\n<div class=\"pq-flow-h\">Flow snapshot <em>\u2014 how the answer moves<\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p1\"><span>Intro routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> Anchor in text: Art 54 (election) + Art 55 (manner) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> President indirectly elected <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> a constitutional head, not a popularly-mandated executive <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Ambedkar<\/b>: the President is \u201cthe head of the state\u201d, not of the executive \u2014 represents the nation but does not rule it<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> Read the electoral college as a federal device <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Union Parliament + State Assemblies vote together <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> the office mirrors the Union\u2013State balance, not a popular majority<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p2\"><span>Body flow<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>Composition: elected MPs (both Houses) + elected MLAs of all States + Delhi and Puducherry Assemblies (70th Amendment) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> nominated members and MLCs excluded <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> proportional representation by single transferable vote, secret ballot (Art 55(3)) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> twin principles: uniformity among States + parity between the States and the Union <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> MLA vote = (State population, 1971 census \u00f7 elected MLAs) \u00f7 1000; MP vote = (total MLA votes \u00f7 elected MPs) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> win = 50% of valid votes + 1 <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> disputes <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Art 71 <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Supreme Court, final<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p3\"><span>Counter-view<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>The design draws criticism: \u201cuniformity\u201d is now notional <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> vote values still pegged to the 1971 census (84th Amendment) while State populations diverge <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> the federal mirror is only partial (most UTs excluded) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> indirect election + intricate formula give legitimacy but no popular mandate<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p4\"><span>Conclusion routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> The electoral college is a deliberate design \u2014 indirect + federal + proportional <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> a President who is a pan-Indian symbol with Union-and-State legitimacy, not a rival power centre<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> It balances democratic legitimacy with the parliamentary scheme <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> reform debates (census basis, UT inclusion) refine the edges, but the core logic holds<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"pyq_year":[45],"pyq_marks":[35],"pyq_topic":[60],"pyq_paper":[33],"class_list":["post-1127","psir_pyq","type-psir_pyq","status-publish","hentry","pyq_year-45","pyq_marks-15-marks","pyq_topic-principal-organs-of-the-union-and-state-government","pyq_paper-paper-1"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_pyq"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4721,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1127\/revisions\/4721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"pyq_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_year?post=1127"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_marks","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_marks?post=1127"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_topic?post=1127"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_paper","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_paper?post=1127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}