The stage is set for yet another contest to elect the President of India. The significance of the polls is underscored by the fact that the next incumbent at the Rashtrapati Bhawan will be in office when the country celebrates the 75th year of its Independence.

With the combined opposition on Monday filing papers to field former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, a contest is on the cards with the octogenarian bureaucrat-turned-politician challenging Draupadi Murmu, the candidate of the governing National Democratic Alliance coalition arrangement helmed by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Murmu, a Santhal tribal from Odisha, is well poised to enter the office on the strength of the electoral college that favours the NDA and bolstered by the support coming in from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the YSR Congress party.

The odds are stacked against Mr Sinha, who though a consensus candidate of the opposition decided to step in as a choice after three others in the zone of consideration — Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah and Gopal Gandhi — counted themselves out.

As opposition leaders descended on the office of the Returning Officer, in this case, the Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha, the person most conspicuous in the assembly was Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao, son of the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) decided to join the ranks of the opposition.

ALSO READ | Draupadi Murmu files nomination for presidential post in PM Modi's presence: Know all about the tribal leader from Odisha

While candidates of the major formations are established figures, there are over 50-odd nominations from various parts of the country filed as on Monday. These include 14 sets received after Mr Sinha filed his papers for the top post in the Constitution. Other than the official party (ies) candidates, can the others hope to get the vote from members of the electoral college?

Well, to analyse this there are two distinct streams. The original act in the form of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections prior to the amendment in 1974 to check "frivolous candidates" and then again two decades later raised the bar.

While the early lawmakers allowed the people of India to be a candidate, experience accumulated over the years made them realise that the election to the office deserves a different approach. The 1974 amendment introduced the concept of the candidate to be proposed and seconded by 10 electors which was raised to 50 proposers and an equal number to second it through another amendment in 1997. Significantly, the government promulgated an ordinance before the elections and Bill replacing the emergency law was regularised by Parliament in August, when the country was celebrating its 50th year of Independence.

The current arrangement continues and as of Monday some 40 sets of nominations including those of Droupadi Murmu and Yashwant Sinha were received by the Returning Officer. On June 30, two days after the close of nominations the country will know the candidates whose papers are in order.

ALSO READ | Lesser-known facts about Draupadi Murmu, NDA's presidential candidate

A quick glance at the past elections throws up some interesting data. Dr. Rajendra Prasad who was the choice of the then government led by Jawahar Lal Nehru, not once but twice, in 1952 and 1957 was challenged by citizens of the new Republic, albeit unsuccessfully by the likes of Hari Ram among others.

Hari Ram contested five elections from 1952 till 1969 and gathered no more than 2,000 plus value of votes. While it reflected the vibrancy of the procedure, even though the challengers knew they stood no chance. The idea, however, naïve reflected a dream of the ordinary of being in the race to become the President of India.

The presence of candidates on the ballot paper containing as many as 17 and 15 names during the 1967 and 1969 elections respectively triggered a change. The policy and lawmakers realised that besides many offering to contest for the highest constitutional post in the country, some resorted to a court of law by challenging the election. On the recommendation of the Election Commission, the Act was amended with riders.

There were many who continued to file nominations even after the 1974 amendment and in the 1977 elections as many as 37 candidates filed papers, of which 36 were rejected leading to the only instance when President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was elected unopposed.

ALSO READ | Presidential poll: Process to file nomination begins today; a look at eligibility criteria and how it's done

Two persons Mithilesh Kumar Sinha in 1997 and in 1992 Ram Jethmalani and Kaka Joginder Singh 'Dhartipakad' were successful to be on the ballot. Interestingly, Joginder Singh believed in contesting all elections in his lifetime and filed papers from municipal elections to the office of the President of India.

In order to further restrict the elections to only serious candidates, the law was amended once again that raised the number of proposers and seconders to 100 and raised the security deposit to Rs 15,000. Since then, the contest remains between the candidates fielded by the governing party/coalition of the day and the opposition, combined or fractured as the case may be.

— KV Prasad is a senior journalist and has earlier worked with The Hindu and The Tribune. Views expressed are personal.

Read his other columns here

(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)