List of Indian Presidents

The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India. The President is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces.^[1]Although the president is vested such powers by the Constitution of India, the position is largely a ceremonial role and the executive powers are de factoexercised by the Cabinet Ministers andPrime Minister.^[2] The post of President is known in Hindi as Rashtrapati, aSanskrit neologism meaning "lord of the realm". The President is elected by theElectoral College composed of elected members of the parliament houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislative assemblies.^[1]

The Main Gate of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India

There have been 13 presidents of India since the introduction of the post in 1950. The post was established when India was declared as a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution.^[3]Apart from these thirteen, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. Varahagiri Venkata Giri became Acting President of India in 1969 following the death of Zakir Hussain, who 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. The President 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.^[1] Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.^[4]

Seven presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. Six of these were active party members of the Indian National Congress. TheJanata Party has had one member,Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who later became president. Two presidents, Zakir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office. Their vice-presidents functioned as acting president until a new president was elected. Following Hussain's death, two acting presidents held office until the new president,Varahagiri Venkata Giri, was elected. Varahagiri Venkata Giri himself, Hussain's vice president, was the first acting president. When Giri resigned to take part in the presidential elections, he was superseded by Muhammad Hidayatullah as acting president.^[5] The current President is Pranab Mukherjeeelected on 25 July 2012. Mukherjee held various posts in the cabinet ministry for the Government of India such as Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. He originally comes from West Bengal and is also the first Bengali to hold the post of the President.^[6] The ex- president,Pratibha Patil, who was in office till 25 July 2012, was elected as the 12th President of India in 2007. She is also the first woman to serve as President of India.^[7]

Presidents

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

Colour key

  President of India

  Acting President of India (*)

More information: №, Name (birth–death) ...

№	Name (birth–death)	Portrait	Elected	Took office	Left office	Vice President
1	Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963)		1952 1957	26 January 1950	12 May 1962	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
			Prasad, from Bihar, was the first President of independent India.[8][9] He was also a freedom fighter during the Indian independence movement.[10] Prasad was the only president to serve two terms in office.[4]
2	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)		1962	13 May 1962	13 May 1967	Zakir Hussain
			Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher and writer and also held the position of vice chancellor of the Andhra University andBanaras Hindu University.[11] He was also made a Knight of the Golden Army of Angels by Pope Paul VI. He received Bharat Ratna award in 1954 before becoming the President.[12]
3	Zakir Hussain (1897–1969)		1967	13 May 1967	3 May 1969	Varahagiri Venkata Giri
			Hussain was vice chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna.[13] He died in office.
–	Varahagiri Venkata Giri * (1894–1980)		–	3 May 1969	20 July 1969	–
			Giri was appointed as Acting President of India following the death of Hussain.[14] He resigned in a few months to take part in the presidential elections.[5]
–	Mohammad Hidayatullah * (1905–1992)		–	20 July 1969	24 August 1969	–
			Hidayatullah served as the Chief Justice of India, and was a recipient of the Order of the British Empire.[15] He served as Acting President of India until the election of Giri as the President of India.
4	Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894–1980)		1969	24 August 1969	24 August 1974	Gopal Swarup Pathak
			Giri is the only person to have served as both an acting president and president of India. He was a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and has functioned as Indian Minister of Labour and High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).[16]
5	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977)		1974	24 August 1974	11 February 1977	Basappa Danappa Jatti
			Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed served as a Minister before being elected as president. He died in 1977 before his term of office ended, and was the second Indian president to die in office.[17]
–	Basappa Danappa Jatti* (1912–2002)		–	11 February 1977	25 July 1977	–
			Jatti was the vice president of India during Ahmed's term of office, and was sworn in asActing President of India upon Ahmed's death. He earlier functioned as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore.[17][18]
6	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913–1996)		1977	25 July 1977	25 July 1982	Muhammad Hidayatullah
			N.S. Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State. Reddy was the only Member of Parliament from the Janata Party to get elected from Andhra Pradesh.[19] He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 26 March 1977 and relinquished this office on 13 July 1977 to become the 6th President of India.
7	Giani Zail Singh (1916–1994)		1982	25 July 1982	25 July 1987	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
			In March 1972, Singh assumed the position of chief Minister of Punjab, and in 1980, he became Union Home Minister. He was also secretary general to Non-Aligned Movement(NAM) from 1983 to 1986[20]
8	Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910–2009)		1987	25 July 1987	25 July 1992	Shankar Dayal Sharma
			In 1942, Venkataraman was jailed by the British for his involvement in the Indian independence movement.[21] After his release, he was elected to independent India’s Provisional Parliament as a member of the Congress Party in 1950 and eventually joined the central government, where he first served as Minister of Finance and Industry and later as Minister of Defence.[22]
9	Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918–1999)		1992	25 July 1992	25 July 1997	Kocheril Raman Narayanan
			Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Minister for Communications. He has also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab andMaharashtra.[23]
10	Kocheril Raman Narayanan (1920–2005)		1997	25 July 1997	25 July 2002	Krishan Kant
			Narayanan served as India's ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and United States of America. He received doctorates in Science and Law and was also a chancellor in several universities.[24] He was also the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University.[25]
11	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (b. 1931)		2002	25 July 2002	25 July 2007	Krishan Kant Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
			Kalam is a scientist who played a leading role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.[26] He also received the Bharat Ratna. Kalam was affectionately known as the People's President.[27][28][29]
12	Pratibha Patil (b. 1934)		2007	25 July 2007	25 July 2012	Mohammad Hamid Ansari
			Patil is the first woman to become the President of India. She was also the first female Governor of Rajasthan.[30][31]
13	Pranab Mukherjee (b. 1935)		2012	25 July 2012	Incumbent	Mohammad Hamid Ansari
			Shri Pranab Mukherjee held various posts in the cabinet ministry for the Government of India such as Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.[6]

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