Election of President and Vice-President

Election of President and Vice-President -

1. (1) The State Election Commission shall, as soon as may be, after the every election of Zila Panchayat, hold the election of the President and Vice-President in such manner as may be prescribed. (2)
   • (i) The office of the President shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the number of offices reserved of President for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the State shall bear as nearly as may be the same proportion to the total number of such offices in the State as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State bears to the total population of the State: Provided that in the State where the combined population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is less than fifty percent, twenty-five percent of the total number of offices of President of Zila Panchayats in the State shall be reserved for other backward classes: Provided further that not less than half of the total number of offices of President of Zila Panchayat shall be reserved for women in the State: Provided further that the offices reserved under this section shall be rotated by the prescribed authority among the Zila Panchayats in the State in the prescribed manner: Provided further that those Zila Panchayats, where the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes is not there, shall be excluded for rotation for the purpose of reservation of offices of President of those castes.
   • (ii) In the State where the combined population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is less than fifty percent, twenty-five percent of the total offices of President of Zila Panchayats in the State shall be reserved for other backward classes.
2. (3) Subject to the provisions of sub-sections
3. (2) and (4), the President and Vice-President of Zila Panchayat shall be elected by the elected members thereof and from amongst such members.
4. (4) If the President of a Zila Panchayat is not a person belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or other backward classes, the Vice-President shall be elected from amongst members of such castes or such classes.
5. (5) If the President or Vice-President of Zila Panchayat becomes a member of either House of Parliament or a member of the State Legislative Assembly or President or Vice-President of a Cooperative Society, it shall be deemed that he has vacated his office as President or Vice-President, as the case may be, from the date he became such member or President or Vice-President of Cooperative Society and for the purposes of Section 38 it shall be deemed that a casual vacancy has occurred in such office.