UPSC Prelims 2023 Q80: Presidential Election Value of Vote Explained

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?

  1. Only one
  2. Only two
  3. Only three
  4. All four

Answer: (a) Only one

Statement-wise explanation

  • 1: incorrect — Under Article 54, the electoral college has only the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies, including Delhi and Puducherry. Nominated members cannot vote. That rules out the 12 nominated Rajya Sabha members and any nominated MLAs. Members of State Legislative Councils are also outside the electoral college.
  • 2: incorrect — Under Article 55(2), an MLA's vote value is the State's 1971 population divided by its elective Assembly seats, then divided by 1,000. Seats are in the denominator, so more seats with the same population lower the value of each vote. Madhya Pradesh has 230 seats and a value of 131 per MLA. Kerala has 140 seats and a value of 152.
  • 3: incorrect — Madhya Pradesh: 3,00,16,625 (1971 population) ÷ 230 seats ÷ 1,000 ≈ 131. Kerala: 2,13,47,375 ÷ 140 ÷ 1,000 ≈ 152. A Kerala MLA's vote is therefore worth more than a Madhya Pradesh MLA's vote.
  • 4: correct — Puducherry: 4,71,707 (1971 population) ÷ 30 seats ÷ 1,000 ≈ 16. Arunachal Pradesh: 4,67,511 ÷ 60 seats ÷ 1,000 ≈ 8. The two populations are almost equal, but Puducherry has half as many seats. So its population per seat is higher, and that is exactly the reason the statement gives.

How to eliminate

Statement 1 fails on basic knowledge. The President is elected by the 'elected members' of Parliament and the Assemblies, and that word excludes nominated members. Statement 2 fails if you know the formula, value = population ÷ seats ÷ 1,000. Seats sit in the denominator, so 'more seats, more value' cannot be a rule. The question also hands you a counter-example: Madhya Pradesh has more seats than Kerala, and statement 3 asks you to compare them. That leaves 'only one' or 'only two'. Statement 4 reasons with population divided by seats, which is the correct test, and it is true because Puducherry and Arunachal have nearly equal 1971 populations but 30 and 60 seats. Statement 3 needs one fact: Kerala's population per seat is higher than Madhya Pradesh's. That is easy to guess, since Kerala is densely populated with only 140 seats while Madhya Pradesh has 230. Fact to remember: an MLA's vote value tracks population per seat, not the number of seats.

Know more

How the President is elected (Articles 54–55)

  • Electors: the elected MPs of both Houses and the elected MLAs of all States. The 70th Amendment (1992) added the elected MLAs of Delhi and Puducherry. Nominated members and members of Legislative Councils cannot vote.
  • Value of an MLA's vote = State population ÷ elective seats ÷ 1,000, rounded.
  • Value of an MP's vote = total value of all MLAs' votes ÷ total elected MPs (Lok Sabha 543 + Rajya Sabha 233), rounded.
  • Population base: under the 84th Amendment (2001), the 1971 Census is used until figures from the first census after 2026 are published.
  • Method: proportional representation by single transferable vote, with a secret ballot. The winner needs a quota of (valid votes ÷ 2) + 1.
State/UT Seats 1971 population Value per MLA
Uttar Pradesh 403 8,38,49,905 208
Kerala 140 2,13,47,375 152
Madhya Pradesh 230 3,00,16,625 131
Delhi 70 40,65,698 58
Puducherry 30 4,71,707 16
Arunachal Pradesh 60 4,67,511 8
Sikkim 32 2,09,843 7

2022 change: Jammu and Kashmir became a Union Territory in 2019 and had no Assembly in 2022. Its 87 MLAs therefore dropped out. The total value of all MLAs' votes fell from 5,49,495 in 2017 to 5,43,231, and the value of an MP's vote fell from 708 to 700.

Why the formula matters: it gives equality among States, because each State's weight follows its population. It also gives parity between the Union and the States, because all MPs together carry roughly the same weight as all MLAs together.

In the news

India's 16th presidential election was held in July 2022, and Droupadi Murmu won it. Coverage pointed out that an MP's vote value fell from 708 to 700 because Jammu and Kashmir had no Legislative Assembly. That put the value-of-vote formula in the news the year before the 2023 Prelims.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

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