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[edit]

   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

Legend
President
(birth–death)
Portrait Tenure Elected Political affiliation

(at time of appointment)

Prime Minister
Took office Left office
1 Rajendra Prasad
(1884–1963)
Rajendra Prasad (Indian President), signed image for Walter Nash (NZ Prime Minister), 1958 (16017609534).jpg 26 January 1950 13 May 1962 1952
1957
Indian National Congress Nehru
2 Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
(1888–1975)
Photograph of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan presented to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962.jpg 13 May 1962 13 May 1967 1962 Independent Nehru
Nanda
Shastri
Nanda
Gandhi
3 Zakir Husain
(1897–1969)
President Zakir Husain 1998 stamp of India.jpg 13 May 1967 3 May 1969
(died in office.)
1967 Independent Gandhi
4 V. V. Giri
(1894–1980)
10) V.V GIRI AUTOGRAPHED PENCIL SKETCH.jpg 3 May 1969 20 July 1969 1969 Independent Gandhi
5 Mohammad Hidayatullah
(1905–1992)
Justice M. Hidayatullah.jpg 20 July 1969 24 August 1969 1969 Independent Gandhi
(4) V. V. Giri
(1894–1980)
V.V.Giri.jpg 24 August 1969 24 August 1974 1969 Independent Gandhi
6 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
(1905–1977)
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 1977 stamp of India.jpg 24 August 1974 11 February 1977
(died in office.)
1974 Indian National Congress Gandhi
7 B. D. Jatti
(1912–2002)
11 February 1977 25 July 1977
Indian National Congress Gandhi
Desai
8 Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
(1913–1996)
NeelamSanjeevaReddy.jpg 25 July 1977 25 July 1982 1977 Janata Party Desai
Singh
Gandhi
9 Giani Zail Singh
(1916–1994)
Giani Zail Singh 1995 stamp of India.jpg 25 July 1982 25 July 1983 1982 Indian National Congress Gandhi
Gandhi
(5) Mohammad Hidayatullah
(1905–1992)
Justice M. Hidayatullah.jpg 25 July 1983 25 July 1983 Indian National Congress Gandhi
Gandhi
(9) Giani Zail Singh
(1916–1994)
Giani Zail Singh 1995 stamp of India.jpg 25 July 1983 25 July 1984 Indian National Congress Gandhi
Gandhi
(5) Mohammad Hidayatullah
(1905–1992)
Justice M. Hidayatullah.jpg 25 July 1984 25 July 1984 Indian National Congress Gandhi
Gandhi
(9) Giani Zail Singh
(1916–1994)
Giani Zail Singh 1995 stamp of India.jpg 25 July 1984 25 July 1987 Indian National Congress Gandhi
Gandhi
10 R. Venkataraman
(1910–2009)
R Venkataraman.jpg 25 July 1987 25 July 1992 1987 Indian National Congress Gandhi
Singh
Shekhar
Rao
11 Shankar Dayal Sharma
(1918–1999)
Shankar Dayal Sharma 36.jpg 25 July 1992 25 July 1997 1992 Indian National Congress Rao
Vajpayee
Deve Gowda
Gujral
12 K. R. Narayanan
(1920–2005)
K. R. Narayanan.jpg 25 July 1997 25 July 2002 1997 Indian National Congress Gujral
Vajpayee
13 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
(1931–2015)
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in 2008.jpg 25 July 2002 25 July 2007 2002 Independent Vajpayee
Singh
14 Pratibha Patil
(1934–)
PratibhaIndia.jpg 25 July 2007 25 July 2012 2007 Indian National Congress Singh
15 Pranab Mukherjee
(1935–2020)
Pranab Mukherjee Portrait.jpg 25 July 2012 25 July 2017 2012 Indian National Congress Singh
Modi
16 Ram Nath Kovind
(1945–)
Ram Nath Kovind official portrait.jpg 25 July 2017 25 July 2022 2017 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi
17 Draupadi Murmu
(1958 —)
25 July 2022 Incumbent 2022 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi

Acting presidents of India[edit]

This list is numbered based on vice presidents elected after winning an Indian Acting Presidential election. The Acting President of India does not represent any political party.

No. Name

(birth–death)

Portrait Took office Left office Party
Gopal Swarup Pathak

(1896–1982)

31 August 1969 31 August 1969 Independent
Mohammad Hidayatullah

(1905–1992)

Justice M. Hidayatullah.jpg 31 August 1979 30 August 1984 Independent
Krishan Kantdagger(1927–2002) Krishna Kant 21 July 2001 25 July 2001 Janata Dal
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

(1924–2010)

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat 1 July 2007 21 July 2007 Bharatiya Janata Party
Mohammad Hamid Ansari

(1937–)

Hamid Ansari 11 August 2007 11 August 2007 Indian National Congress
11 August 2012 11 August 2012
Venkaiah Naidu

(1949–)

Venkaiah Naidu 11 August 2017 11 August 2017 Bharatiya Janata Party

Statistics[edit]

Representation of presidents by party of candidacy

  Indian National Congress (57.14%)
  Independent (28.58%)
  Bharatiya Janata Party (7.14%)
  Janata Party (7.14%)
Timeline

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from: 26/01/1950 till: 13/05/1962 color:INC text:"Prasad" fontsize:10
from: 13/05/1962 till: 13/05/1967 color:idp text:"Radhakrishnan"  fontsize:10
from: 13/05/1967 till: 03/05/1969 color:idp text:"Husain" fontsize:10
from: 03/05/1969 till: 20/07/1969 color:idp text:"Giri (acting)" fontsize:10
from: 20/07/1969 till: 24/08/1969 color:idp text:"Hidayatullah (acting)" fontsize:10
from: 24/08/1969 till: 24/08/1974 color:idp text:"Giri" fontsize:10
from: 24/08/1974 till: 11/02/1977 color:INC text:"Ahmed" fontsize:10
from: 11/02/1977 till: 25/07/1977 color:INC text:"Jatti (acting)" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/1977 till: 25/07/1982 color:JP text:"Reddy" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/1982 till: 25/07/1987 color:INC text:"Singh" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/1987 till: 25/07/1992 color:INC text:"Venkataraman" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/1992 till: 25/07/1997 color:INC text:"Sharma" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/1997 till: 25/07/2002 color:INC text:"Narayanan" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/2002 till: 25/07/2007 color:idp text:"Kalam" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/2007 till: 25/07/2012 color:INC text:"Patil" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/2012 till:25/07/2017 color:INC text:"Mukherjee" fontsize:10
from: 25/07/2017 till:end color:BJP text:"Kovind" fontsize:10 </timeline>

See also[edit]

Citations[edit]

  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. 2.0 2.1 "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.

References[edit]

External links[edit]