Lot many people ask me about the mathematics behind the election of President of India. Though it seems to be a non serious position in Indian context, the approach is surely very serious and unlike in 60's and 70's when Congress used to get their man ( or woman) elected easily, this is not the case any more.
Let us first see the maths:
President of India is elected by all elected MPs and MLAs across the nation, as they all are representatives of the masses. As of current scenario India has 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs. To elect President of India MPs and MLAs have certain vote value.
MPs vote have a value of 708, which is
uniform across the nation, irrespective of the parties they belong to.
But, MLAs have vote value according to their states, i.e. differs from
state to state.
In total, 776 MPs have vote value of 549,408 (776x708) and 4,120 MLAs have total value of 549,474.
The total vote value of 776 MPs and
4,120 MLAs is 10,98, 882. Various political parties join hands with
other regional parties and allies to support their candidates and
whoever supports with majority will get to crown President of their
choice. And, this is how nation elects President of India through
electoral college of MPs and MLAs.
So, the interpretation is that MLA's also play a significant part in this and about 50% votes are with various MLA's across nation. Also, Rajya Sabha seats are also dependent upon position of parties in various state assemblies.
With Congress and BJP losing in lot of states and bigger states like UP/Bihar/Bengal/TN not with any of them, they need support from various parties for their candidate.
