The President of India is elected by

Concept

An indirect election uses a constitutionally defined electoral college instead of a direct vote by all citizens. Membership of that college must be read from the governing constitutional provision, and nominated members are excluded unless the provision expressly includes them.

Application

Article 54 of the Constitution specifies two constituent groups in the electoral college for the President of India: the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. For this purpose, States include the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Contrast

• Elected members of State Assemblies and both Houses of Parliament combines the State-level and Union-level elected legislators named in Article 54.

• State Assemblies alone omits the elected members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

• The public would constitute a direct popular election, whereas the constitutional method is indirect.

• Parliament alone omits the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies.

Cross-check

Article 54 can be checked as a two-part list: elected members of both Houses of Parliament plus elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies. Therefore, the complete offered group is elected members of State Assemblies and both Houses of Parliament.