Election of President of India and question of UT of J&K to be a part of its electoral college

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  Election of President of India and question of UT of J&K to be a part of its electoral college

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1. In a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query “If the UT of J&K will be part of the Electoral College for the election of the President of India”, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked to refer to Article 54 of the Constitution of India.
2. What is Article 54? – Under Article 54, the President is elected by an Electoral College, which consists of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all the States and also of NCT of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. Secret ballot is used in voting. The President’s tenure is for five years and he is eligible for immediate re- election and can serve any number of terms.
3. In the proportional representation system, each voter will have only one vote but a voter can indicate his preference for as many contesting candidates as he likes in order of his/her preference or choice.
4. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, direction and control of elections to parliament, state legislatures, the office of president of India and the office of vice-president of India shall be vested in the election commission.
5. What is the matter then? - Article 54 specifically mentions NCT of Delhi and Puducherry as eligible to be part of the Electoral College. There is no word about the newly-formed UT of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). Inclusion of new members in the Electoral College in Article 54 would require a Constitutional Amendment to be carried out through two-thirds majority in Parliament and ratification by over 50% of the States. Delhi and Puducherry were included as Electoral College members under Article 54 through the 70th Constitution Amendment Act of 1992.
6. Alternate way - According to some experts, UT of J&K would be able to participate in the President’s elections even without any Constitutional amendment. According to Section 13 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, the provisions contained in article 239A, which are applicable to “Union territory of Puducherry”, shall also apply to the “Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir”.

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