Mention any two reasons for the indirect election of the President.

(1) The President is only the nominal or constitutional head; the real executive power is exercised by 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 limited position and might set him against the real executive. (2) A direct election in a country of India’s size would be enormously expensive and time-consuming; the indirect method through an Electoral College of elected MPs and MLAs is simpler, and it still makes him the representative of the whole nation, the States included.

Two distinct reasons, one mark each. The strongest pair is the nominal-head argument and the cost-and-size argument. Add the composition of the Electoral College if you have room — the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the State Legislative Assemblies (including Delhi and Puducherry). Note that NOMINATED members do not vote, which is a favourite follow-up question.