Consider the following statements in respect of election to the President of India:
1. The members nominated to either House of the Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies of States are also eligible to be included in the Electoral College.
2. Higher the number of elective Assembly seats, higher is the value of vote of each MLA of that State.
3. The value of vote of each MLA of Madhya Pradesh is greater than that of Kerala.
4. The value of of vote of each MLA of Puducherry is higher than that of Arunachal Pradesh because the ratio of total population to total number of elective seats in Puducherry is greater as compared to Arunachal Pradesh.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Explanation
The correct answer is (a) Only one.
Statement 1 is incorrect. The members nominated to either House of the Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies of States are not eligible to be included in the Electoral College. Only the elected members are eligible to be included in the Electoral College.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The value of vote of each MLA of a State is not directly proportional to the number of elective Assembly seats in that State. The value of vote of each MLA of a State is determined by the following formula:
Value of vote of each MLA = Total number of votes of all MLAs in the State / Total number of elective Assembly seats in the State
For example, the value of vote of each MLA in Madhya Pradesh is 230, while the value of vote of each MLA in Kerala is 140. This is because there are a total of 230 MLAs in Madhya Pradesh and 140 MLAs in Kerala.
Statement 3 is incorrect. The value of vote of each MLA of Madhya Pradesh is not greater than that of Kerala. In fact, the value of vote of each MLA of Kerala is greater than that of Madhya Pradesh. This is because the ratio of total population to total number of elective seats in Kerala is greater than that of Madhya Pradesh.
Statement 4 is correct as value of vote of Pondicherry MLA is 16 while that of arunachal pradesh MLA is 8.