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The President is the head of the State. He is also the constitutional head or the nominal head of the country. There are some certain qualifications needed to be elected as the President of India. The President of India is an integral part of the Parliament. Under “article 58”, the principal qualifications of the President of India has been mentioned. The President must be a citizen of India. He must be 35 years or above. The President should qualify as a member of the Loksabha. He should be elected as a member of the Loksabha.
Citizen of India
The idea of the President of India was borrowed from U.K. The first and foremost criteria of becoming a President of India is that he/she must be a citizen of India. No person will be eligible for the election of a President who is not a citizen of India. Article 5-11, deals with citizenship in the Indian constitution. Some certain criteria are followed to become a citizen of India.
| Methods of acquiring Indian citizenship | Illustration |
| By Birth | Citizens born in Indian territory are considered as a citizen of India. |
| By Introspection or Acquisition of Territory | If any state or territory becomes a part of India, the central government will declare the people of that region as a citizen of India, such as Goa, Puducherry, Sikkim, Daman, and Diu became India’s part, and therefore the people of the region became citizens of India. |
| By Descent | Persons born outside of India on or after 26th January and 10th December are considered citizens of India. Still, at the time of his or her birth, their father must be a citizen of India. |
| By Registration | A person must live in India for five years, then he can apply for citizenship, or if a person is a minor and his parents are a citizen of India, he can also apply for citizenship. |
| By Neutralization | A person can apply to the central government for his citizenship. A citizenship certificate is given to a person who is of good character, and should not be an illegal migrant. It is given in the “8th schedule” of the Indian constitution. |
President’s age criteria
The President should be 35 years old. There is no age limitation above the age of 35 years.
President elected as a member of Loksabha
The President must have the qualification to be elected as a member of Loksabha, but he is not a member of Loksabha. The concept of the manner of the Election of the President is taken from “Ireland”. The election of the President is mentioned under Article 54. The election procedure of the President highlight
- The President of India is elected through the members of the “Electoral College”. An Electoral College consists of the elected members of both houses like the elected members of the Parliament and the members of the Legislative Assembly, and it includes the members of the union territories, i.e. Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. Still, the nominated persons of both houses cannot participate in the election of the President.
- The base of the election is “Proportional Representation.”
- The method of election is “indirect election.”
- “The secret ballot system” is not followed in the election process.
The President of India should not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or any other state government. If he is appointed in any other institution, whether government or nongovernment, he must resign from the present post to be President of India. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, elected in 2002 as the 11th president was the advisor of D.R.D.O. even after becoming the President of India. He remained in the former post but did not receive any payment from that institution as per the law.
Conclusion
The President is the nominal head of our country. The role of the President is quite ceremonial in parliamentary democracies. He is also the commander in chief of all armed forces. He appointed the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
