Give any two reasons to justify the need for the indirect election of the President.

(1) The President is only the NOMINAL head; the real executive power lies with the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. A direct election by the whole nation would give him a popular mandate out of keeping with that position and might set him against the real executive. (2) A direct election in a country of India’s size would cost enormous time, money and energy. The indirect method, through an Electoral College of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the State Legislative Assemblies, still makes him the representative of the whole nation including the States, and keeps him from becoming the nominee of the ruling party alone.

Four marks for two reasons means each must be developed, not merely stated — give the reason and then explain WHY it follows. The nominal-head argument is the constitutional one and should come first; the cost-and-size argument is the practical one. Describing the Electoral College earns credit: elected members of both Houses and of the State Assemblies, including Delhi and Puducherry, voting by proportional representation with a single transferable vote and by secret ballot. Note that NOMINATED members do not vote.