Consider the following statements in respect of election to the President of India:
- 1.The members nominated to either House of the Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies of States are also eligible to be included in the Electoral College.
- 2.Higher the number of elective Assembly seats, higher is the value of vote of each MLA of that State.
- 3.The value of vote of each MLA of Madhya Pradesh is greater than that of Kerala.
- 4.The value of vote of each MLA of Puducherry is higher than that of Arunachal Pradesh because the ratio of total population to total number of elective seats in Puducherry is greater as compared to Arunachal Pradesh.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) Only one
Only statement 4 is correct. The Electoral College has only elected members, and the value of each MLA's vote equals the 1971 population of the State divided by its number of elected MLAs (then divided by 1,000), so more seats make each vote worth less, not more.
- ✗ 1. Article 54 limits the Electoral College to the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the State Legislative Assemblies. Nominated members are not eligible.
- ✗ 2. Under Article 55(2)(a) the number of elected MLAs is the divisor, so for a given population, more elective seats means a lower value for each MLA's vote.
- ✗ 3. Using 1971 Census population, each MLA vote is worth 152 in Kerala (about 2.13 crore people, 140 seats) and 131 in Madhya Pradesh (about 3.00 crore people, 230 seats). Madhya Pradesh's value is lower, not greater.
- ✓ 4. Puducherry (1971 population 4,71,707; 30 elected seats) gives 16 per MLA, while Arunachal Pradesh (4,67,511; 60 seats) gives 8. The populations are almost equal but Puducherry has half the seats, so its ratio of population to seats is higher.
Remember · Value of an MLA's vote = (State's 1971 population ÷ elected MLAs) ÷ 1,000, rounded. Only elected members vote, and states with fewer seats per head of population get a higher vote value.
Sources
- Election Commission of India press note on the Presidential election, carried by PIB ↗ “The nominated members of either House of Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies of State are not eligible to be included in the Electoral College.”
- Constitution of India, Article 55(2)(a) ↗ “every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State shall have as many votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the State by the total number of the elected members of the Assembly”
- Election Commission of India, Leap of Faith Vol. 2, p. 218: Presidential Election 2022, value of votes of MLAs (1971 Census) ↗ “12 Kerala 140 21347375 152 21280 13 Madhya Pradesh 230 30016625 131 30130 … 2 Arunachal Pradesh 60 467511 8 480 3 Assam 126 14625152 116 14616 … 30 UT of Puducherry 30 471707 16 480”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·