India's Presidential Election 2012

What is the Status of the Presidential Election?

The Presidential elections will be held soon as the present term for President Ms. Pratibha Patil ends on July 25. None of the major national alliances has nay clear edge, and the non-aligned regional parties are set to play a crucial role in deciding who will be the country’s next constitutional head.

      The President is elected indirectly, voting by MLAs and MPs.

      India has 4120 MLAs & 776 MPs (both RS and LS), 4896 electors to elect President

      Each MLA and MP is assigned a certain value of their votes

      Each MP’s vote has a value of 708. An MLA’s vote value varies from state to stae depending on the population.

      Total value of votes of 4120 MLAs of all States is 5, 49, 474

      Total value of voted of all 776 MPs together is 5, 49, 408

      Total values of votes of all 776 MPs together is 5, 49, 408

      Total value of votes of 4986 votes is 10, 98, 882

How the vote is calculated:-

The President of India is elected by members of an electoral college consisting of:-

D       the elected members of both the Houses of the Parliament and

D       the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States

PRESENT POSITION OF POLITICAL PARTIES:-

UPA: CONGRESS & KEY ALLIES
Party	MLAs	Value of Votes	MPs		Value of Votes	Vote Value (column 3+5)
INC	1177	134369	277		196116	330485
TMC	199	28225	25		17700	45925
DMK	25	4080	25		17700	21780
NCP	94	12522	16		11328	23850
RJD	27	4686	8		5664	10350
NC	28	2016	5		3540	5556
Muslim League	20	3040	2		1416	4456
JVM	11	1936	2		1416	3352
AIMIM	7	1036	1		708	1744
BPF	12	1392	2		1416	2808
Kerala Cong	9	1368	1		708	2076
RLD	9	1972	6		4248	6220
LIP	1	173	1		708	881
Total values of votes: 459483; this is 30% of total votes
NDA: BJP & KEY ALLIES
Party	MLAs	Value of Votes		MPs	Value of Votes	Vote Value (column 3+5)
BJP	825	108481		165	116820	225301
JD(U)	121	20913		28	19824	40737
SAD	57	6608		7	4956	11564
Shiv Sena	45	7875		15	10620	18495
JMM	18	3168		2	1416	4584
AGP	10	1160		3	2124	3284
HJC	1	112		1	708	820
Total values of vote: 304785; this is 28% of total votes
REST (NON-UPA, NON-NDA)
Party	MLAs	Value of Votes		MPs	Value of Votes	Vote Value (column 3+5)
SP	230	47572		27	19116	66688
AIADMK	158	27008		14	9912	36920
CPM	144	16220		29	20532	36752
BJD	103	15347		20	14160	29507
BSP	91	17861		39	27612	45473
TDP	86	12728		10	7080	19808
JD (S)	30	4014		3	2124	6138
CPI	32	4828		9	6372	11200
PDP	22	1584		0	0	1584
FB	11	1661		3	2124	3785
RSP	9	1361		2	1416	2777
TRS	12	1776		2	1416	3192
Total Value of Votes: 263824; this is 24% of total votes

Who are in the race for the next President of India? (as of on Feb 10, 2012)

The frontrunners from the political firmament are predictable. Vice-president Hamid Ansari, PM Manmohan Singh, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar top the political list. These names have done the rounds in the last few months and it’s not difficult to see why; the next incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan will be swearing in the prime minister after the general election in 2014, or even earlier, and may be called upon to take tough political decisions. “It’s too early to discuss any candidate; let’s wait and see the political alignments after the assembly results,” says a Congress general secretary.

Some also says that “We shouldn’t be hung up on these religious, caste and Dalit criteria. We need a president with administrative experience, commitment to nation-building and ability for crisis management because political challenges are inevitable in the next couple of years,” he says. There could be a case for a technocrat-administrator like telecom whiz Sam Pitroda, ‘Metro man’ E. Sreedharan, legal expert Fali S. Nariman.

Others who drew in support were anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, backed by a lot of aam janata, but not by pundits; and former president Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who many remember as “a non-political hero with charisma”. But politicians, understandably, seem disinclined to experiment with a non-political person yet again.