Election of President of India: All you need to know

The Presidential Elections are scheduled on July 18 and India will get its new 'Rashtrapati' on July 21. Incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind will demit the office of the President of India on July 24 after serving the country for five years.

The election process:

The process of electing the President is much different from that of the Prime Minister. The general public is neither directly nor indirectly involved in the election process. Instead, an electoral college, consisting of elected members from both Houses of the Parliament and elected members from all Legislative Assemblies including the Union Territories of Delhi and Pondicherry, elects the President.

The electoral college of 2022 consists of 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs. The Election Commission of India has valued the vote of each MP at 700. The total vote-value of the MPs is 5,43,200 (776x700).

The votes of MLAs from different states are valued according to the 1971 census of the population of the respective States. The total vote-value of MLAs in 2022 has gone down to 5,43,231 from 5,49,495 after reducing Jammu & Kashmir's vote share of 6,264.

The aggregate vote value for the 16th Presidential Election of India is 10,86,431.

So, for a candidate to win the elections, he/she must get 50% of votes + 1 vote.

The nomination criteria

The principal qualifications for being eligible to become the President of India are:

a. The candidate must be a citizen of India

b. Must be of 35 years of age or above

c. Qualified to be a member of either House of the Parliament.

The Constitution also states: "A person shall not be eligible for election as President, if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments."

Meaning, the candidate must not be part of any profit-bearing position under any form of Government after being elected as the President.

The schedule for the 16th Presidential Elections:

The Electoral Commission of India has announced the schedule for Presidential elections on June 9.