Question

Who is called the first citizen of India?
A. The Prime Minister
B. The President
C. The Speaker of Lok Sabha
D. The Chief Justice of India

Answer 1

Hint: Articles 5 to 11 in Part II of the Constitution deal with citizenship. However, it contains neither any elaborate nor any permanent provisions in this regard. It only identifies the persons who became the citizens of India at its commencement i.e. 26th January 1950. The Parliament has been given the power to enact a law for any matter related to citizenship.

Complete answer:
The current President of India is Ram Nath Kovind. The President of India acts as the symbol of unity, solidarity, and integrity of the Nation and is the first citizen of India. He is the head of the Indian state and also the Supreme Commander of the defense forces of India. The International agreements and treaties are concluded and negotiated on behalf of the President.
The President is not elected directly by the people but by members of the Electoral College which consists of the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states; the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry; and the elected members of both the Houses of Parliament. Thus, the nominated members do not participate in the election of the President. The President’s election is held through the system of Proportional representation by means of a Single Transferable Vote and the voting is by secret ballot.
The qualifications required to be eligible to become the President of India are that the candidate should be a citizen of India; S/He shouldn’t be having any office of profit under the Union Government or any state government or any local authority or any other public authority; S/He should be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha, and S/He should have completed 35 years of age.

Thus, option (B) is correct.

Note: The Parliament has enacted the Citizenship Act, 1955, which has been subsequently amended in 1957, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005, 2015, and lastly in 2019. The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 was a very controversial act that saw a number of protests.