WHO IS THE PRESIDENT
A President is the head of the State. He is elected by
the elected members of both the Houses of Parliament and elected members of
State Legislative Assemblies. He is the legal head of our governmental
institution.
TERM
LENGTH OF PRESIDENT
This is generally five years
and the President has the right to renew it. In case the President is not
available on account of any reason then the Vice President would act as the President
for the country till the arrival of the actual President
A GUIDE TO REACH PRESIDENTIAL POST
(A) Basic Requirements for Being a Presidential Candidate
A person is eligible for
election as President if he is:
- A citizen of India
- Not less than 35 years of age
- Qualified for election as a member of Lok Sabha
- Not holding any office of profit under the Government. (Vice
presidents, Governors are excluded for this eligibility)
- Should not be a member of either house of Parliament or
State Legislature.
(B) Educational Requirements
Being at a presidential post is no cakewalk; it requires
patience, efforts and dedication. There are no assured steps or a dedicated
path which could be followed to reach the right destination but broad
guidelines from the predecessor’s life path could definitely help to achieve
ones dreams.
As seen from past history most of our presidents had a
formal education in Bachelors of Arts followed by Masters in history/ political
science / economics/ english (one or
combination of subjects). These subjects would help in taking a first step
towards entry into politics.
A degree in law such as L.L.B, D.Litt. (Honors) would
have an additional advantage. This would work for an individual’s benefit to
understand the constitution, the legalities, policies, rules in further
details.
(However exceptions are always there, and a very well
known example is Mr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam who is a nuclear physicist and has still
successfully served the presidential election)
(C) Professional Career
After an individual is qualified with the relevant
educational degree, the next step is to start with a professional life.
A career in the relevant field of studies is the first
choice. However it is advisable to choose a career in a field which would help
an individual in achieving significant milestones. A person needs to create an
image and an identity for himself and make the common man realize the
potential, talent and capability within him/ her. An individual would have to
start creating a public image for oneself so as to benefit in the future.
In addition to creating a public image, a career in
government departments or a career catering to top bureaucrats would help. An
individual could also pursue career in civil, defense services or can become an
Indian diplomat. All this would help in increasing the contribution of work
towards the country.
(D) Social and Cultural Activities
An aspiring candidate should have a keen interest in
social and cultural activities. He / she needs to work effectively and actively
to solve existing social issues, and also work towards the development of the society
and against various other social stigmas. An individual should take up social
activities right from their college days so as to have significant achievement in
their stride.
(E) Political Career
Getting an entry into a political career is tough. Start
a political career by joining a local party or their youth wing. Work with full
dedication and devotion. Identify the issues persistent in your locality. Raise
your voice, try to ease problems and be people friendly. Support of masses can
help achieve tremendous success. A PEOPLE PERSON WILL ALWAYS EMERGE AS A
WINNER. Good work will help achieve support both from the people and the
political party.
Grow ahead in the career by participating in the district
and state events. Contest for elections at district and at state levels. Aim to
become member of legislative assembly and gradually develop a mark at Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha.
Try proving your worth by handling different portfolios
effectively. A good backing of your party will help you contest for
presidential elections.
All of the above activities would help an individual move
ahead and closer to their dreams of becoming a presidential candidate.
(F) Presidential Candidate
- A nomination paper of a candidate for the election in the
prescribed form has to be subscribed by at least fifty electors as proposers
and at least fifty electors as seconders and has to be presented to the
Returning Officer, either by the candidate himself or by any of his proposers
or seconders.
- The Security Deposit for the election of Rs.15000/-
should also be deposited either in cash with the Returning Officer or a receipt
showing that the amount has been deposited by the candidate or on his behalf in
the Reserve Bank of India or in a Government Treasury should be furnished along
with the nomination paper.
- The candidate is also required to furnish a certified copy
of the entry showing his name in the current electoral roll for the
Parliamentary Constituency in which the candidate is registered as an elector.
Whenever the office becomes vacant, the new President is
chosen by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both houses
of Parliament, the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies (Vidhan
Sabha) and the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union
Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.
The nomination of a candidate for election to the office
of the President must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50
electors as seconders. Each candidate has to make a security deposit of
INR15,000 in the Reserve Bank of India. The security deposit is liable to be
forfeited in case the candidate fails to secure one-sixth of the votes polled.
The election is held in accordance to the system of
Proportional representation by means of Single transferable vote method. The
Voting takes place by secret ballot system. The manner of election of President
is provided by Article 55 of the Constitution.
Each elector casts a different number of votes. The
general principle is that the total number of votes cast by Members of
Parliament equals the total number of votes cast by State Legislators. Also,
legislators from larger states cast more votes than those from smaller states.
Finally, the number of legislators in a state matters; if a state has few
legislators, then each legislator has more votes; if a state has many
legislators, then each legislator has fewer votes.
The actual calculation for votes cast by a particular
state is calculated by dividing the state's population by 1000, which is
divided again by the number of legislators from the State voting in the
Electoral College. This number is the number of votes per legislator in a given
state. For votes cast by those in Parliament, the total number of votes cast by
all state legislators is divided by the number of members of both Houses of
Parliament. This is the number of votes per member of either house of
Parliament.
Although Indian presidential elections involve actual
voting by MPs and MLAs, they tend to vote for the candidate supported by their
respective parties
CONCLUSION
Thus the above guidelines would help an individual in
achieving the dream to become a president of India. There is no shortcut rule
to success. Chasing this dream into reality would require endless efforts and
thankless jobs. Seizing the right opportunity and having a political background
would always help.
KINNARY SHETH
CAREER COUNSELOR
