The President of India, who is the head of state, is indirectly elected.

I. Qualifications: The qualifications for the office of the President are:

that the person:

(i) should be a citizen of India.

(ii) should have completed the age of 35 years.

(iii) should be qualified to be elected as a member of Lok Sabha. and

(iv) should not hold any office of profit, i.e. the candidate should not be a government servant. However, the office of the President, the Vice-President, the Governor or the Minister of the Union or the State is not considered as an office of profit for this purpose.

II. His Term and Office: The President is elected for a term of five years and is eligible for re-election, though a convention has developed that no President seeks election for second term. However, the first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected for the two full terms. He/she may resign before the expiry of his term, or the office of President may fall vacant due to his / her death. His term of office commences from the date he takes the oath of office.

III. Removal of the President from his office: The President can only be removed from office through a process called impeachment. The Constitution lays down a detailed procedure for the impeachment of the President.He can only be impeached "for violation of the Constitution".The following procedure is intentionally kept very difficult so that no President should be removed on flimsy ground.

The resolution to impeach the President can be moved in either House of Parliament. Such a resolution can be moved only after a notice has been given by at least one-fourth of the total number of members of the House. Such a resolution charging the President for violation of the Constitution must be passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of that House before it goes to the other House for investigation.