List of presidents of India

Last updated

Rajendra Prasad (Indian President), signed image for Walter Nash (NZ Prime Minister), 1958 (16017609534).jpg
Zakir Husain, 2nd Vice President of India.jpg
Pratibha Patil 2012-02-27.jpg
Droupadi Murmu June 2022.jpg
  • Top left: Rajendra Prasad was the first and longest-serving President of India.
  • Top right: Zakir Husain was the first from a minority religion to become President of India.
  • Bottom left: Pratibha Patil was the first female President of India.
  • Bottom right: Droupadi Murmu is the youngest President and the first President from a tribal community.

The president of India is the head of state of the Republic 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]

Contents

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 Saasana Sabha or 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 15 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 fifteen, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. V. V. 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] Pratibha Patil is the first woman to hold the office, elected in 2007.

On 25 July 2022, Droupadi Murmu took office as the president of India, becoming the second woman and the first tribal person to hold the office. [7]

List

This list is numbered based on presidents elected after winning an Indian presidential election. The terms of V. V. Giri, Mohammad Hidayatullah and B. D. Jatti, who served as acting president are therefore not numbered or counted as actual terms in office. The president of India does not represent any political party. The colors used in the table indicate the following:

No.PortraitName

(Birth–Death)

Home stateFormer Office(s)Term of officeOath administered by

(CJI)

ElectionElection Map Prime Minister Political party
Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office
Interim Rajendra Prasad (Indian President), signed image for Walter Nash (NZ Prime Minister), 1958 (16017609534).jpg Rajendra Prasad
(1884–1963)
Bihar Minister of Agriculture 26 January 195013 May 1952 (Interim)2 years, 107 days (Interim)

10 years

H. J. Kania 1950 1947 Indian Presidential Election.svg Jawaharlal Nehru Indian National Congress
113 May 195213 May 1957 M. Patanjali Sastri 1952 1952 Indian Presidential Election.svg Jawaharlal Nehru
13 May 195713 May 1962 Sudhi Ranjan Das 1957 1957 Indian Presidential Election.svg
2 Photograph of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan presented to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962.jpg Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
(1888–1975)
Tamil Nadu Vice President of India 13 May 196213 May 19675 years Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha 1962 1962 Indian Presidential Election Map.svg Jawaharlal Nehru (1962- 1964)

Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964- 1966) Indira Gandhi (1966- 1967)

Independent
3 Zakir Husain, 2nd Vice President of India.jpg Zakir Husain
(1897–1969)
Andhra Pradesh Vice President of India

Governor of Bihar

13 May 19673 May 1969 [†] 1 year, 355 days Kailas Nath Wanchoo 1967 1967 Indian Presidential Election Map.svg Indira Gandhi
Acting Varahagiri Venkata Giri, 3rd Vice President of India.jpg V. V. Giri
(1894–1980)
Odisha Vice President of India 3 May 196920 July 196978 days
Acting Mohammad Hidayatullah, 6th Vice President of India.jpg Mohammad Hidayatullah
(1905–1992)
Chhattisgarh Chief Justice of India 20 July 196924 August 196935 daysIndira Gandhi
4 Varahagiri Venkata Giri, 3rd Vice President of India.jpg V. V. Giri
(1894–1980)
Odisha Vice President of India

Governor of Kerala

24 August 196924 August 19745 years Mohammad Hidayatullah 1969 1969 Indian Presidential Election.svg Indira Gandhi
5 President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.jpg Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
(1905–1977)
National Capital Territory of Delhi Minister of Agriculture 24 August 197411 February 1977 [†] 2 years, 171 days A. N. Ray [8] 1974 1974 Indian Presidential Election.svg Indira Gandhi Indian National Congress
Acting Basappa Danappa Jatti, 5th Vice President of India.jpg B. D. Jatti
(1912–2002)
Karnataka Chief Minister of Karnataka 11 February 197725 July 1977164 days
6 Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.jpg Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
(1913–1996)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh 25 July 197725 July 19825 years Mirza Hameedullah Beg 1977 1979 Indian Presidential Election Map.svg Morarji Desai (1977- 1979)

Charan Singh (1979- 1980) Indira Gandhi (1980- 1982)

Janata Party
7 Giani Zail Singh.jpg Zail Singh
(1916–1994)
Punjab Chief Minister of Punjab 25 July 198225 July 19875 years Y. V. Chandrachud 1982 1982 Indian Presidential Election.svg Indira Gandhi (1982- 1984)

Rajiv Gandhi (1984- 1987)

Indian National Congress
8 Ramaswamy Venkataraman (2012 stamp of India) (cropped).jpg Ramaswamy Venkataraman
(1910–2009)
Tamil Nadu Vice President of India

Minister of Defence

25 July 198725 July 19925 years Raghunandan Swarup Pathak 1987 Indian presidential election, 1987.svg Rajiv Gandhi (1987- 1989)

V. P. Singh (1989- 1990) Chandra Shekhar (1990- 1991) P. V. Narasimha Rao (1991- 1992)

9 Shankar Dayal Sharma.jpg Shankar Dayal Sharma
(1918–1999)
Madhya Pradesh Vice President of India

Governor of Maharashtra

25 July 199225 July 19975 years M. H. Kania 1992 1992 Indian Presidential Election.svg P. V. Narasimha Rao (1992- 1996)

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1996) H. D. Deve Gowda (1996- 1997) Inder Kumar Gujral (1997)

10 President Clinton with Indian president K. R. Narayanan (cropped).jpg K. R. Narayanan
(1920–2005)
Kerala Vice President of India 25 July 199725 July 20025 years J. S. Verma 1997 Indian presidential election, 1997.svg Inder Kumar Gujral (1997- 1998)

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998- 2002)

11 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.jpg A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
(1931–2015)
Tamil Nadu Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of India 25 July 200225 July 20075 years Bhupinder Nath Kirpal 2002 Indian presidential election, 2002.svg Atal Bihari Vajpayee (2002- 2004)

Manmohan Singh (2004- 2007)

Independent
12 The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil.jpg Pratibha Patil
(born 1934)
Maharashtra Governor of Rajasthan 25 July 200725 July 20125 years K. G. Balakrishnan [9] 2007 2007 Indian Presidential Election.svg Manmohan Singh (2007- 2014)

Narendra Modi (2014- 2017)

Indian National Congress
13 Pranab Mukherjee Portrait (cropped).jpg Pranab Mukherjee
(1935–2020)
West Bengal Minister of Defence

Minister of Finance

Minister of External Affairs

25 July 201225 July 20175 years S. H. Kapadia [10] 2012 Indian presidential election 2012.svg
14 Ram Nath Kovind official portrait.jpg Ram Nath Kovind
(born 1945)
Uttar Pradesh Governor of Bihar 25 July 201725 July 20225 years Jagdish Singh Khehar [11] 2017 Indian presidential election, 2017.svg Narendra Modi Bharatiya Janata Party
15 President Droupadi Murmu official portrait higher version.jpg Droupadi Murmu
(born 1958)
Odisha Governor of Jharkhand 25 July 2022Incumbent2 years, 217 days N. V. Ramana [12] 2022 2022 Indian Presidential Election.svg Narendra Modi

Statistics

Representation of presidents by party of candidacy
  1. Indian National Congress (53.33%)
  2. Independent (26.67%)
  3. Bharatiya Janata Party (13.33%)
  4. Janata Party (6.67%)

See also

Citations

  1. "President Ram Nath Kovind is India's first citizen. Your chances begin only at Number 27". indiatoday.com. Times of India. 26 July 2017. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 "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. "Droupadi Murmu oath taking ceremony LIVE updates: Droupadi Murmu takes oath as India's 15th President". The Times of India. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  8. http://rashtrapatibhavan.gov.in/sites/default/files/2023-03/4_0.jpg.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. "Pratibha Patil sworn in as President". The Times of India. 25 July 2007. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  10. "Pranab Mukherjee sworn in 13th President of India". India Today. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  11. "Ram Nath Kovind Takes Oath As 14th President of India: Highlights". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  12. "The Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice N.V. Ramana administering the oath of the office of the President of India to Smt. Droupadi Murmu, at a swearing-in ceremony in the central hall of Parliament, in New Delhi on July 25, 2022. | Welcome to RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN - The Office and Residence of the President of India". rashtrapatibhavan.gov.in. Retrieved 26 December 2024.

References