{"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":"2026-08-09T21:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T16:26:21","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>&mdash; 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\">R1 Anchor in text: Art 54 (election) + Art 55 (manner) \u2192 President indirectly elected \u2192 a constitutional head, not a popularly-mandated executive \u2192 Ambedkar: the President is \u201cthe head of the state\u2019, not of the executive \u2014 represents the nation but does not rule it R2 Read the electoral college as a federal device \u2192 Union Parliament + State Assemblies vote together \u2192 the office mirrors the Union-State balance, not a popular majority<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p2\"><span>Body flow<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">Composition: elected MPs (both Houses) + elected MLAs of all States + Delhi and Puducherry Assemblies (70th Amendment) \u2192 nominated members and MLCs excluded \u2192 proportional representation by single transferable vote, secret ballot (Art 55(3)) \u2192 twin principles: uniformity among States + parity between the States and the Union \u2192 MLA vote = (State population, 1971 census + elected MLAs) + 1000; MP vote = (total MLA votes + elected MPs) \u2192 win = 50% of valid votes +1 \u2192 disputes \u2192 Art 71 \u2192 Supreme Court, final<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p3\"><span>Counter-view<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">The design draws criticism: \u201cuniformity\u201d is now notional \u2192 vote values still pegged to the 1971 census (84th Amendment) while State populations diverge \u2192 the federal mirror is only partial (most UTs excluded) \u2192 indirect election + intricate formula give legitimacy but no popular mandate<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p4\"><span>Conclusion routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">R1 The electoral college is a deliberate design \u2014 indirect + federal + proportional \u2192 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 \u2192 reform debates (census basis, UT inclusion) refine the edges, but the core logic holds<\/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":2,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2536,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1127\/revisions\/2536"}],"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}]}}