Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements in respect of election to the President of India:
The members nominated to either House of the Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies of States are also eligible to be included in the Electoral College.
Higher the number of elective Assembly seats, higher is the value of vote of each MLA of that State.
The value of vote of each MLA of Madhya Pradesh is greater than that of Kerala.
The value of vote of each MLA of Puducherry is higher than that of Arunachal Pradesh because the ratio of total population to total number of elective seats in Puducherry is greater as compared to Arunachal Pradesh.
How many of the above statement(s) is/are correct?
Only one
Only two
Only three
All four
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is incorrect. Under Article 54, the electoral college for the President consists only of:
Elected members of both Houses of Parliament.
Elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States.
Elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Puducherry.
Nominated members of Parliament or Legislative Assemblies and members of State Legislative Councils do not vote in the presidential election.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The value of an MLA’s vote does not increase merely because a State has more elected Assembly seats. It depends on both the State’s population and the number of elected Assembly members:
For the same population, a higher number of elected MLAs would reduce the value of each MLA’s vote.
Statement 3 is incorrect. In the presidential election, the vote value of each Madhya Pradesh MLA is lower than that of each Kerala MLA.
The applicable vote values are:
Each Madhya Pradesh MLA—131.
Each Kerala MLA—152.
This is because Kerala has a higher population-to-elected-Assembly-seats ratio than Madhya Pradesh.
Statement 4 is correct. Puducherry has a higher population-to-elected-Assembly-seats ratio than Arunachal Pradesh. Consequently, each Puducherry MLA has a higher vote value.
Each Puducherry MLA—16.
Each Arunachal Pradesh MLA—8.
Other important facts about the presidential election are:
Elected MPs and elected MLAs constitute the electoral college.
The election is held by proportional representation through the single transferable vote.
Voting is conducted by secret ballot.
Vote values are designed to maintain uniformity among the States and parity between the States and the Union.
The value of each MP’s vote is calculated by dividing the total value of the votes of all elected MLAs by the total number of elected MPs.
Under Article 71, disputes concerning a presidential election are decided by the Supreme Court.
For Article 55, population continues to refer to the 1971 Census until the relevant figures of the first Census conducted after 2026 are published.