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Exams आसान है !

Q1. Discuss the Presidential Electoral Process in India. (250 words) Paper & Topic: GS II à Indian Parliament

Model Answer:

To elect the president of India, representatives from the federal and state levels participate in an electoral college system.
The elections are supervised and administered by the Indian Election Commission (EC).
The electoral college comprises the elected representatives of the State legislatures and the union territories, as well as the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha members of Parliament (MPs) (MLAs).

Constitutional clauses pertaining to this:

Procedure:

The nomination process, which comes before voting, entails submitting a prospective candidate’s name together with a signed list of 50 proposers and 50 seconders.
A proposer or a seconder can be any electoral college member at the state or federal level.
The rule for securing 50 proposers and seconders was implemented when the EC noticed, in 1974, that several candidates, many without even a bleak chance of winning, would file their nominations to contest the polls.
The same elector cannot propose or second the nomination of more than one candidate.

What is the value of each vote, and how is it calculated?

The vote of each MP or MLA does not count as one vote.
In the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, an MP’s vote has a set value of 700.
Each MLA’s vote value changes from State to State in accordance with a formula that accounts for each State’s population in relation to the number of lawmakers in its legislative Assembly.
The Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act of 2001 mandates that the population of the States be determined using information from the 1971 Census. This will change when the Census results from the one taken after 2026 are made public.
The value of each MLA’s vote can be determined by multiplying the State’s population by the number of MLAs in its legislative Assembly, and then by 1000.
For instance, Uttar Pradesh, with 208 votes per MLA, has the highest vote value. One MLA vote is worth 175 in Maharashtra but only eight in Arunachal Pradesh.

What is required to guarantee victory?

Instead of winning with a simple majority, a nominee is elected by amassing a certain number of votes. The electoral college’s paper ballots are totaled by the EC during the counting procedure, and a candidate must receive 50% of the total votes cast plus 1 in order to prevail.
In contrast to general elections, where voters choose a candidate from just one party, electoral college electors rank candidates’ names on the ballot paper.
According to the proportional representation system, one transferable vote and a secret ballot are used to elect the president.

Q2. What is Impeachment Process and in what cases can the President of India be removed from office? (250 words)

Paper & Topic: GS II à Indian Parliament

Model Answer:

Impeachment of the president is a constitutional remedy for serious offenses against the political system. It is the initial step in a corrective process that may also lead to removal from public office and probable future ineligibility.

Constitutional Position of the President:

The President may be removed from office through an impeachment process for a “violation of the constitution.”
However, the Constitution does not specify what a “violation of the Constitution” is.
Article 61 of the Indian Constitution describes the procedure for impeaching the president.

President Impeachment laws in India:

The impeachment allegations may be brought by either House of Parliament.
These claims must be signed by one-fourth of the House members who are accused of framing them, and the President must be notified 14 days in advance.
When the impeachment resolution has been accepted by a two-thirds majority of all members of that House, it is sent to the other House, which is entrusted with looking into the allegations.
The President is entitled to appear during such an investigation and be represented.
If the other House agrees with the charges and passes the impeachment resolution by a two-thirds majority of its members, the President is dismissed from office as of the day the resolution is passed.
As a result, impeachment is a sort of judicial procedure in Parliament.
The following two points should be kept in mind in this situation: elected members of state legislative assemblies and the union territories of Delhi and Puducherry may not participate in the impeachment of the President even though they participated in the election of the President even though they did not cast a ballot in that election.

Has any President been impeached in India so far?

Conclusion:

Instead than targeting particular individuals for punishment, impeachment works to protect constitutional government.
Impeachment, a quasi-judicial procedure, begins with an inquiry requested by the opposition party and calls for a special majority of two-thirds of members present and voting in both chambers.