UPSC exam is a reputed exam conducted in four major divisions such as prelims, mains, interview, and medical test. All the candidates of the exam must know every piece of knowledge from the world and the Indian constitution. You could be asked anything from any sector and you must know the answer to it. When you are giving the exam, you aspire to be the future IAS which means you hold the administrative powers of the country. You must have an in-depth understanding of all the legal and official processes of the nation including the elections and democratic rights. India has the bulkiest and lengthiest constitution in the world. If you are preparing for the CSE and wondering, what do you need to know about the President’s Election? Then, here is everything related to it for you to acknowledge.
President of India
The President of the republic and democratic India is regarded as the ceremonial head of the state and the honourable Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. He takes the charge of the integrity, harmony, and safety of the overall country and performs his duty for the same. He is the one who is the representative of the nation and the titular executive. The office of the President was created and developed when India became a republic on 26 January 1950.
He comes in supreme authority in case of emergency whether it is a state emergency, national emergency, or any sort of financial emergency and his signatures are the most mandatory for any bill to pass and reinforce. He extends his powers to administration, legislation, and the judiciary. He can nominate people to sit in Parliament.
The Current President of India
Shri Ram Nath Kovind is the 14th and current President of India. According to Article 53 of the Constitution, the President can perform his powers directly or by subordinate authority, with few exceptions like all of the executive powers vested in the president are, in practice, exercised by the prime minister (a subordinate authority) with the help of the Council of Ministers.
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Process of Election
The President of India is elected indirectly by an electoral college that consists of members from both the houses of the Parliament that are Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and the members of the state legislative assemblies of each state and union territory. He is elected for a term of 5 years and can be reelected for a second term. He is the nominal head of the nation and works in the direction of the welfare of the country. It is written in the constitution designed by Hon’ble B.R Ambedkar that the President represents the nation but does not rule the nation because he is indirectly elected by the Parliament. He must hold certain qualifications and eligibility to be on the designation. All the processes and procedures of it must be known to you for the UPSC exam GK.
Eligibility of the President
#1. He should be a citizen of India.
#2. He should be of at least 35 years of age.
#3. He should not hold any office of profit or be bankrupt or a proclaimed offender or a person of unsound mind.
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Powers and Duties
Article 57 of the Indian Constitution provides that a person who holds, or who has held, office as President shall, subject to the other provisions of this constitution, be eligible for re-election to that office and under the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, a candidate to be nominated for the office of president needs 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders for his name to appear on the ballot. Some certain powers and duties are essentially carried out by the President of India. Any bill becomes an Act when it is passed by the President. The supreme powers of the President are given below.
#1. Legislative Powers
#a. He has the power to summon, suspend, prorogue and dissolve the Parliament.
#b. He addresses both the Houses of Parliament after every general election and every year before the budget session.
#c. He has the power to issue ordinances if the Parliament is not in session. But this law has to be passed by the Parliament within six weeks of its resembling.
#d. He nominated two Anglo-Indian members to the Lok Sabha to give the community adequate representation.
#e. He nominates twelve members to Rajya Sabha from among people who have distinguished themselves in the field of art, science, literature, culture, technology, etc.
#2. Executive Powers
#a. The President appoints the Prime Minister, the Central Council of Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister, judges of the supreme courts and high courts, and governors of the states.
#b. The president is the supreme commander of our Defence Forces and appoints the chiefs of the army, navy, and airforce.
#c. He can pardon and reduce the sentence of a person sentenced by a court. The death penalty can also be changed by him.
#d. When there is a failure of the constitutional machinery in a state, he can assume any of the functions of the government of that particular state.
#e. The President can proclaim an emergency in the country if he feels that the security of the country is threatened by war or external aggression or armed rebellion
#3. Judicial Powers
The primary duty of the president is to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law of India per Article 60. The president appoints the Chief Justice of India and other judges on the advice of the chief justice. He dismisses the judges if and only if the two Houses of the Parliament pass resolutions to that effect by a two-thirds majority of the members present.
The Indian government’s chief legal adviser, Attorney General of India, is appointed by the president of India under Article 76(1) and holds office during the pleasure of the president. If the president considers a question of law or a matter of public importance has arisen, he can also ask for the advisory opinion of the supreme court per Article 143. Per Article 88, the president can ask the attorney general to attend the parliamentary proceedings and report to him any unlawful functioning if any.
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#4. Financial Powers
A money bill can be introduced in the parliament only with the president’s recommendation.
The president lays the Annual Financial Statement, i.e. the Union budget, before the parliament.
The president can take advances out of the Contingency Fund of India to meet unforeseen expenses.
The president constitutes a Finance Commission every five years to recommend the distribution of the taxes between the centre and the States. The most recent was constituted in 2017.
#5. Appointment Powers
The president is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments along with the power to appoint the Prime Minister, Council of Ministers, 12 people in Rajya Sabha, two Anglo Indians, and the governor of the states. These include the following appointments.
#a. The chief justice and other judges of the Supreme Court of India and state/union territory high courts.
#b. The Chief Minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Article 239 AA 5 of the constitution).
#c. The Comptroller and Auditor General.
#d. The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.
#e. The chairman and other members of the Union Public Service Commission.
#f. The Attorney General.
#g. Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries (only through the list of names given by the prime minister).
#h. Officers of the All India Services (IAS, IPS, and IFoS), and other Central Civil Services in Group ‘A’.
#5. Duty
The primary duty of the president is to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law of India as made part of his oath (Article 60 of the Indian constitution). The president is the common head of all independent constitutional entities. All his actions, recommendations given in Article 3, Article 111, Article 274, etc. and supervisory powers provided in Article 74(2), Article 78C, Article 108, Article 111, etc. over the executive and legislative entities of India shall be used in accordance to uphold the constitution. There is no bar on the actions of the president to contest in the court of law.
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Conclusion
This is a much-needed prerequisite to know about the country and its procedures before applying to such a prestigious examination of the nation. The President is the head of the country and all the eligibility, powers, duties, election process, and procedures of removal must be known to you.
You must broaden your vision on all such necessary things for UPSC exam preparation and if you are looking for a platform to rely on for anything related to this exam then you must visit UPSC Pathshala and enrich yourself with a bunch of information and relevant things.
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