Indian Polity Quiz: President and Vice-President

The correct answer is Article 52, which says simply: "There shall be a President of India." It opens Chapter I of Part V, the chapter on the Union executive, and every other rule about the office builds on it.

Under Article 54, the President is elected by an electoral college made up only of elected members: the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States, and, since the 70th Amendment of 1992, of the Union Territories of Delhi and…

Article 58 lays down four qualifications for the President: the person must be a citizen of India, must have completed 35 years of age, must be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha, and must not hold any office of profit under the Union, a State or…

Under Article 60, the President takes the oath or affirmation before the Chief Justice of India, or, in the Chief Justice's absence, before the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court.

Article 56(1)(a) says the President may resign by writing under his or her hand addressed to the Vice-President. The Vice-President must then communicate the resignation to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha without delay.

Article 61 sets out the only way a President can be removed before the end of the term: impeachment for "violation of the Constitution".

Article 72 gives the President the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment, and to suspend, remit or commute a sentence.

Article 123 lets the President promulgate an ordinance when either House of Parliament is not in session and the President is satisfied that circumstances make immediate action necessary.

Article 143 gives the Supreme Court its advisory jurisdiction: when a question of law or fact of public importance has arisen or is likely to arise, the President may refer it to the Court for its opinion.

The Constitution does not fix any time limit within which the President must give or withhold assent to an ordinary bill.

Droupadi Murmu was elected President in July 2022, defeating Yashwant Sinha, and took the oath on 25 July 2022, succeeding Ram Nath Kovind, the 14th President.

Article 64 makes the Vice-President the ex officio Chairman of the Council of States, that is, the Rajya Sabha. "Ex officio" means by virtue of the office: nobody elects the Chairman separately.

It provides that the Vice-President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament, elected and nominated alike, by proportional representation through the single transferable vote and by secret ballot.

Under Article 67(b), the Vice-President can be removed by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority of all its then members, an "effective majority", and agreed to by the Lok Sabha by a simple majority.

The philosopher and teacher Dr S. Radhakrishnan was India's first Vice-President, from 1952 to 1962, serving two full terms. He then became the second President of India (1962–67).