🧷 Authentic Classroom Explanation by IAS Monk

📍 The Question:

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?

(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) All four

✅ Correct Answer: (a)

---

🔎 Curiosity Raiser (UPSC trap)

UPSC is testing formula literacy.
If you remember only “President is elected indirectly” but forget the vote-value formula, you’ll fall into the trap.

---

🧠 Core Concept Tested

Electoral College composition + Value of vote of MLAs in Presidential election

---

🔍 Classroom Explanation (UPSC Prelims Focused)

Statement 1 ❌

• Electoral College includes:
  • Elected MPs (Lok Sabha + Rajya Sabha)
  • Elected MLAs of States
  • Elected MLAs of Delhi and Puducherry
• Nominated members are not included.

👉 Statement 1 is incorrect.

---

Statement 2 ❌

Value of vote of an MLA:

Value = Population of the State / (1000 × Number of elected MLAs)

• Number of seats is in the denominator.
• So, higher seats → lower value per MLA vote, not higher.

👉 Statement 2 is incorrect.

---

Statement 3 ❌

Given values (as used for such questions):

• Madhya Pradesh MLA vote value = 131
• Kerala MLA vote value = 152

So MP < Kerala.

👉 Statement 3 is incorrect.

---

Statement 4 ✅

Given values:

• Puducherry MLA vote value = 16
• Arunachal Pradesh MLA vote value = 8

Puducherry’s value is higher because its population-to-seat ratio is higher.

👉 Statement 4 is correct.

---

❌ Why the final answer is (a)

Only Statement 4 is correct.
Hence, Only one statement is correct.

---

📘 Enrich Notes (Prelims Value Add)

• Electoral College → only elected members (MPs + MLAs + Delhi & Puducherry MLAs)
• Formula → Value of MLA vote depends on Population / (1000 × elected seats)
• 84th Amendment (2001) → for presidential vote calculation, population taken as 1971 Census until post-2026 census figures are used

📌 Prelims Recall Line
More seats → smaller value; nominated members → excluded.

---

🧘‍♂️ IAS Monk Whisper

In the President’s election,
numbers do not just count votes,
they weigh them.