List of presidents of India

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The president of India is the head of state of India and the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The president is referred to as the first citizen of India.[1][2] Although vested with these powers by the Constitution of India, the position is largely a ceremonial one and executive powers are de facto exercised by the prime minister.[3]

The president is elected by the Electoral College composed of elected members of the parliament houses, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislative assemblies.[2] Presidents may remain in office for a tenure of five years, as stated by article 56, part V, of the Constitution of India. In the case where a president's term of office is terminated early or during the absence of the president, the vice president assumes office. By article 70 of part V, the parliament may decide how to discharge the functions of the president where this is not possible, or in any other unexpected contingency.

There have been 14 presidents of India since the post was established when India was declared as a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950.[4] Apart from these fourteen, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. Varahagiri Venkata Giri became the acting president in 1969 after Zakir Husain, died in office. Giri was elected president a few months later. He remains the only person to have held office both as a president and acting president. Rajendra Prasad, the first president of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.[5]

Seven presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. Six of these were active party members of the Indian National Congress. The Janata Party has had one member, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who later became president. Two presidents, Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office. Their vice presidents served as acting presidents until a new president was elected. Following Zakir Husain's death, two acting presidents held office until the new president, V. V. Giri, was elected. When Giri resigned to take part in the presidential elections, he was succeeded by Mohammad Hidayatullah as acting president.[6] The 12th president, Pratibha Patil, is the first woman to hold the office, elected in 2007.

On 25 July 2017, Ram Nath Kovind took office as the 14th president of India.[7][8]

List[]

This list is numbered based on presidents elected after winning an Indian presidential election. The terms of Varahagiri Venkata Giri, Mohammad Hidayatullah, and Basappa Danappa Jatti, who served as acting president, are therefore not numbered. The president of India does not represent any political party. The colours used in the table indicate the following:

  Acting President (3)
  President was an Independent candidate (5)
  President was a candidate of Indian National Congress (INC) (7)
  President was a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (1)
  President was a candidate of the Janata Party (JP) (1)
Key

Died in office-Died in office
Did not complete assigned term-Resigned

Portrait Name Term of office[9] Election Vice president Party
1 Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad 26 January 1950 13 May 1962 12 years, 107 days 1950 – Indian National Congress
1952 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
1957
2 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 13 May 1962 13 May 1967 5 years, 0 days 1962 Zakir Husain Independent
3
Zakir Husain
 Zakir HusainDied in office 13 May 1967 3 May 1969 1 year, 355 days 1967 V. V. Giri
Acting Varahagiri Venkata Giri V. V. Giri 3 May 1969 20 July 1969 78 days – – –
Acting Hidayatullah.png Mohammad Hidayatullah 20 July 1969 24 August 1969 35 days – – –
4 Varahagiri Venkata Giri V. V. Giri 24 August 1969 24 August 1974 5 years, 0 days 1969 Gopal Swarup Pathak Independent
5 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 1977 stamp of India (cropped).jpg Fakhruddin Ali AhmedDied in office 24 August 1974 11 February 1977 2 years, 171 days 1974 B. D. Jatti Indian National Congress
Acting B.D Jatti (cropped).png B. D. Jatti 11 February 1977 25 July 1977 164 days – – –
6 Neelam Sanjeevan Reddy Neelam Sanjiva Reddy 25 July 1977 25 July 1982 5 years, 0 days 1977 B. D. Jatti Janata Party
Mohammad Hidayatullah
7 Giani Zail Singh 1995 stamp of India (cropped).png Zail Singh 25 July 1982 25 July 1987 5 years, 0 days 1982 Indian National Congress
Ramaswamy Venkataraman
8 Ramaswamy Venkataraman Ramaswamy Venkataraman 25 July 1987 25 July 1992 5 years, 0 days 1987 Shankar Dayal Sharma
9 Shankar Dayal Sharma Shankar Dayal Sharma 25 July 1992 25 July 1997 5 years, 0 days 1992 K. R. Narayanan
10 Kocheril Raman Narayanan K. R. Narayanan 25 July 1997 25 July 2002 5 years, 0 days 1997 Krishan Kant
11 Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 25 July 2002 25 July 2007 5 years, 0 days 2002 Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Independent
12 Pratibha Patil Pratibha Patil 25 July 2007 25 July 2012 5 years, 0 days 2007 Mohammad Hamid Ansari Indian National Congress
13 Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Mukherjee 25 July 2012 25 July 2017 5 years, 0 days 2012
14 Ram Nath Kovind official portrait.jpg Ram Nath Kovind 25 July 2017 Incumbent
(Term ends on 25 July 2022) 		4 years, 195 days 2017 Venkaiah Naidu Bharatiya Janata Party

Statistics[]

Representation of presidents by party of candidacy

  Indian National Congress (62.2%)
  Independent (23.6%)
  Bharatiya Janata Party (6.2%)
  Janata Party (6.9%)
  Acting (1.1%)
Timeline
Ram Nath KovindPranab MukherjeePratibha PatilA. P. J. Abdul KalamKocheril Raman NarayananShankar Dayal SharmaRamaswamy VenkataramanZail SinghNeelam Sanjiva ReddyBasappa Danappa JattiFakhruddin Ali AhmedVarahagiri Venkata GiriMohammad HidayatullahVarahagiri Venkata GiriZakir Husain (politician)Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanRajendra Prasad

See also[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ "President Ram Nath Kovind is Indias first citizen. Your chances begin only at Number 27". indiatoday.com. Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b "The Constitution of India". Ministry of Law and Justice of India. Archived from the original (.doc) on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  3. ^ "India gets first woman president since independence". BBC News. 25 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  4. ^ "1950: India becomes a republic". BBC News. 26 January 1950. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  5. ^ Harish Khare (6 December 2006). "Selecting the next Rashtrapati". The Hindu. India. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  6. ^ Shekhar Iyer (25 June 2007). "Shekhawat will not resign to contest poll". Hindustan Times. India. Archived from the original on 11 January 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  7. ^ Hebbar, Nistula (20 July 2017). "Ram Nath Kovind enters Rashtrapati Bhavan with big win". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  8. ^ The Hindu Net Desk (27 July 2017). "Ram Nath Kovind takes oath as President, Rajya Sabha discusses farmers' crisis – top stories for today". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  9. ^ "The President of India". presidentofindia.gov.in. Retrieved 29 October 2021.

References[]

External links[]

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