The 14th indirect Presidential elections will be held on July 19. The President-elect will replace incumbent President Pratibha Patil, the first Indian woman to hold the office. This will be followed by the election for the vice-president in the first week of August.
The candidates for the office of the President are former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee from West Bengal and former Speaker of the Lok Sabha P. A. Sangma from Meghalaya. The counting of votes will take place on the 22nd of July, and the new President is assumed to take office on 25 July.
The President of India enjoys a wide range of legislative, executive, judicial, financial, military and diplomatic powers. Some of the key powers of the President of India are:
- Article 53 of the Constitution of India vests in the President, all the executive powers of the central government. With a few exceptions, most of it is put into practice by the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers.
- He/She has the power to dissolve the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Parliament).
- No bill (even if passed by both the Houses of the Parliament) can become a law without the consent of the President.
- The President of India is the Commander- in- chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
- He/She has the authority to declare national, state and financial emergencies.
- He appoints the Chief Justice of India, the Attorney General of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the Election Commissioner of India and the Governors of states.
- The President of India also has the authority to modify or nullify the court’s verdicts.