Presidential election in India 1957

Rajendra Prasad (1947)

The presidential election in India in 1957 was the second election of the state president in India and took place on May 6, 1957. The previous incumbent and candidate of the Congress Party Rajendra Prasad was re-elected by a large majority .

History and voting mode

Voting weight of the representatives from the states

State	Voting weight
Andhra Pradesh	104
Assam	84
Bihar	122
Bombay	122
Kerala	108
Madhya Pradesh	91
Madras	146
Mysore	93
Orissa	105
Punjab	105
Rajasthan	91
Uttar Pradesh	147
West Bengal	104
Jammu and Kashmir	59

See also : Electoral College (India)

The term of office of the incumbent president ended on May 12, 1957. According to the constitution, the election before the end of the term of office was therefore scheduled for May 6, 1957. Three applicants were allowed to run (two more were disqualified by the electoral authority): incumbent Rajendra Prasad, Nagendra Das from Gauhati ( Assam ) and lawyer Hari Ram from Rohtak ( Punjab ).

The election was then boycotted by the Communist Party and the Praja Socialist Party , arguing that their preferred candidates had not been allowed to vote. Rajendra Prasad was supported by the Congress Party.

The Electoral College was formally composed of 3,897 parliamentarians who had a total of 714,423 votes. Each member of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha had 496 votes each. By the States Reorganization Act of 1956, the states were territorially reorganized, so that there were significant changes in the voting weights. The voting weight of the representatives from the states varied between 59 ( Jammu and Kashmir ) and 147 ( Uttar Pradesh ). The MPs cast their votes either directly in Delhi , or in the respective states. Special arrangements were made for individual MPs so that they could cast their votes elsewhere. The sealed ballot boxes were sent to Delhi, where they were opened on May 10, 1957 and the votes were counted.

Election result

The result was the following:

candidate	Given weighted votes	In percent
Rajendra Prasad	459,698	99.2
Nagendra Das	2,000	0.4
Hari Ram	1,498	0.3
total	463.196	100

The turnout was 65%, significantly lower than in the previous election. On May 10, 1957, Rajendra Prasad was declared president-elect.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d} REPORT on the SECOND GENERAL ELECTIONS IN INDIA 1957. Volume I, Election Commission of India, Delhi, 1959, pp. 177ff.
2. ↑ dated May 7, 1957: Presidential election. The Hindu, May 7, 2007, accessed April 9, 2015 . 
3. ^ JK Chopra: Politics of Election Reforms in India. Mittal Publications, Delhi 1989, ISBN 81-7099-103-X , pp. 117ff.
4. ↑ Election to the Office of the President 2012. (PDF) Indian Election Commission, 2012, accessed on March 27, 2015 (English, detailed explanation of the election procedure based on the 2012 election).