List of Presidents of India
Encyclopedia
The President of India
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...

 is the head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

 and first citizen of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The President is also the Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...

 of the armed forces of India. 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 facto exercised by the Cabinet Ministers
Indian Cabinet Ministers
The Cabinet of India is the collective decision-making body of the Government of India, composed of the Prime Minister and 35 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers...

 and Prime Minister
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...

. The post of President is known in Hindi as Rashtrapati , a Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 neologism meaning "lord of the realm". The President is elected by an electoral college
Electoral college
An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...

 composed of elected members of the parliament houses, Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

 and Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...

, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha
Vidhan Sabha
The Vidhan Sabha or the Legislative Assembly is the lower house or the sole house of the provincial legislature in the different states of India. The same name is also used for the lower house of the legislatures for two of the union territories, Delhi and Pondicherry...

, the state legislative assemblies.

There have been 12 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. Apart from these twelve, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. Varahagiri Venkata Giri
V. V. Giri
Varahagiri Venkata Giri , commonly known as V. V. Giri, was the fourth President of the Republic of India from 24 August 1969 to 23 August 1974.-Early life:...

 became acting president in 1969 following the death of Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (politician)
Dr. Zakir Hussain , was the third President of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. He was the first elected Muslim president of India....

, 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. Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad
Dr. Rajendra Prasad was an Indian politician and educator. He was one of the architects of the Indian Republic, having drafted its first constitution and serving as the first president of independent India...

, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.

Seven presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. Six of these were active party members of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

. The Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...

 has had one member, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982 and was the only person to be elected President of India unopposed....

, who later became president. Two presidents, Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (politician)
Dr. Zakir Hussain , was the third President of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. He was the first elected Muslim president of India....

 and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of India from 1974 to 1977.-Early life and background:Fakhruddin's grandfather, Khaliluddin Ali Ahmed, of Kacharighat near Golaghat, Assam, married in one of the families who were the relics of Emperor Aurangzeb's bid to conquer Assam Ahmed was born on...

, 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. The current President is Pratibha Patil
Pratibha Patil
Pratibha Devisingh Patil is the 12th President of the Republic of India and first woman to hold the office. She was sworn in as President of India on 25 July 2007, succeeding Dr. A.P.J...

, who was elected as the 12th President of India in 2007. She is also the first woman to serve as President of India.

Presidents

This list is numbered based on Presidents elected after winning an Indian Presidential election. The terms of Varahagiri Venkata Giri
V. V. Giri
Varahagiri Venkata Giri , commonly known as V. V. Giri, was the fourth President of the Republic of India from 24 August 1969 to 23 August 1974.-Early life:...

, Muhammad Hidayatullah, and Basappa Danappa Jatti
Basappa Danappa Jatti
Basappa Danappa Jatti was born to Kannada Lingayat family at Savalgi, Bijapur district of Karnataka state. Jatti graduated as a lawyer from Sykes Law College, Kolhapur and became a pleader in Jamakhandi...

, who have functioned as acting president
Acting president
An Acting President is a person who temporarily fills the role of an organization's or country's president, either when the real president is unavailable or when the post is vacant .-See also:*Acting *Acting President of Pakistan*Acting President of Malta*Acting President of...

s, are therefore not numbered. The President of India does not represent any political party, and the Political party column below indicates the party (if any) that the president was a member of before being elected. The colours used in the table indicate the following:
  • The symbol (*) with a light brown background indicates an acting president
    Acting president
    An Acting President is a person who temporarily fills the role of an organization's or country's president, either when the real president is unavailable or when the post is vacant .-See also:*Acting *Acting President of Pakistan*Acting President of Malta*Acting President of...

    .

# Name Portrait Took office Left office Vice President Notes
1 Dr Rajendra Prasad
(1884–1963)
26 January 1950 13 May 1962 Dr.S Radhakrishnan 1952 election page
Indian presidential election, 1952
The Election Commission of India held the first presidential elections of India on May 2, 1952. Dr. Rajendra Prasad won his first election with 507,400 votes over his nearest rival K.T. Shah who got 92,827 votes.-Results:...

 & 1957 election page
Indian presidential election, 1957
The Election Commission of India held indirect 2nd presidential elections of India on May 7, 1962. Dr. Rajendra Prasad won his re-election with 459,698 votes over his rivals Chowdhry Hari Ram who got 2,672 votes and Nagendra Narayan Das who got 2,000 votes. Dr...


Prasad was the first President of independent India from Bihar. He was also an independence activist of the Indian Independence Movement. Prasad was the only president to serve for two terms in office.
2 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , OM, FBA was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He was the first Vice President of India and subsequently the second President of India ....


(1888–1975)
13 May 1962 13 May 1967 Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (politician)
Dr. Zakir Hussain , was the third President of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. He was the first elected Muslim president of India....

1962 election page
Indian presidential election, 1962
The Election Commission of India held indirect 3rd presidential elections of India on May 7, 1962. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan with 553,067 votes won the presidency over his rivals Chowdhry Hari Ram who got 6,341 votes and Yamuna Prasad Trisulia who got 3,537 votes....


Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher, writer, a Knight of the Realm and also held the position of vice chancellor of the Andhra University
Andhra University
Andhra University or Andhra Viswa Kala Parishad , located in Visakhapatnam, north east coastal Andhra Pradesh, is one of the older premier universities in India with a broad focus...

 and Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University is a public university located in Varanasi, India and is one of the Central Universities of India. It is the largest residential university in Asia, with over 24,000 students in its campus. BHU was founded in 1916 by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya under the Parliamentary...

. He was also made a Knight of the Golden Army of Angels by Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

.
3 Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (politician)
Dr. Zakir Hussain , was the third President of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. He was the first elected Muslim president of India....


(1897–1969)
13 May 1967 3 May 1969 Varahagiri Venkata Giri
V. V. Giri
Varahagiri Venkata Giri , commonly known as V. V. Giri, was the fourth President of the Republic of India from 24 August 1969 to 23 August 1974.-Early life:...

1967 election page
Indian presidential election, 1967
The Election Commission of India held the indirect 4th presidential elections of India on May 6, 1967. Zakir Hussain, with 471,244 votes, won the presidency over his rival Kota Subbarao, who garnered 363,971 votes.-Results:...


Hussain was vice chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...

 and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna and comes before the Padma Bhushan...

 and Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna is the Republic of India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order." Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna...

. He died before his term of office was ended.
Varahagiri Venkata Giri
V. V. Giri
Varahagiri Venkata Giri , commonly known as V. V. Giri, was the fourth President of the Republic of India from 24 August 1969 to 23 August 1974.-Early life:...

 *
(1894–1980)
3 May 1969 20 July 1969 Giri was appointed as acting president following the death of Hussain. He resigned in a few months to take part in the presidential elections.
Muhammad Hidayatullah *
(1905–1992)
20 July 1969 24 August 1969 Hidayatullah served as the Chief Justice of India
Chief Justice of India
The Chief Justice of India is the highest-ranking judge in the Supreme Court of India, and thus holds the highest judicial position in India. As well as presiding in the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice also head its administrative functions....

, and was a recipient of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

. He served as acting president until the election of Giri as the President of India.
4 Varahagiri Venkata Giri
V. V. Giri
Varahagiri Venkata Giri , commonly known as V. V. Giri, was the fourth President of the Republic of India from 24 August 1969 to 23 August 1974.-Early life:...


(1894–1980)
24 August 1969 24 August 1974 Gopal Swarup Pathak
Gopal Swarup Pathak
Gopal Swarup Pathak was the fourth Vice President of India from August 1969 to August 1974.Born on February 26, 1896 at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, he studied law at Allahabad University ....

1969 election page
Indian presidential election, 1969
The Election Commission of India held indirect 5th presidential elections of India on August 1969. Varahagiri Venkata Giri with 420,077 votes won in a runoff election over his rival Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy who got 405,427 votes.-Results:...


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).
5 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of India from 1974 to 1977.-Early life and background:Fakhruddin's grandfather, Khaliluddin Ali Ahmed, of Kacharighat near Golaghat, Assam, married in one of the families who were the relics of Emperor Aurangzeb's bid to conquer Assam Ahmed was born on...


(1905–1977)
24 August 1974 11 February 1977 Basappa Danappa Jatti
Basappa Danappa Jatti
Basappa Danappa Jatti was born to Kannada Lingayat family at Savalgi, Bijapur district of Karnataka state. Jatti graduated as a lawyer from Sykes Law College, Kolhapur and became a pleader in Jamakhandi...

1974 election page
Indian presidential election, 1974
The Election Commission of India held indirect 6th presidential elections of India on August 17, 1974. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed with 765,587 votes won over his nearest rival Tridib Chaudhuri who got 189,196 votes.-Electoral Change:...


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 have died during a term of office.
Basappa Danappa Jatti
Basappa Danappa Jatti
Basappa Danappa Jatti was born to Kannada Lingayat family at Savalgi, Bijapur district of Karnataka state. Jatti graduated as a lawyer from Sykes Law College, Kolhapur and became a pleader in Jamakhandi...

 *
(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 as acting president upon Ahmed's death. He earlier functioned as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore
Mysore State
The Kingdom of Mysore was one of the three largest princely states within the erstwhile British Empire of India. Upon India gaining its independence in 1947, the Maharaja of Mysore merged his realm with the Union of India...

.
6 Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982 and was the only person to be elected President of India unopposed....


(1913–1996)
25 July 1977 25 July 1982 Muhammad Hidayatullah 1977 election page
Indian presidential election, 1977
The Election Commission of India held indirect 7th presidential elections of India on August 6, 1982. Even though 37 candidates filed their nominations, 36 of them were rejected, leading to Neelam Sanjiva Reddy being the only President of India winning unopposed....


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. He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

 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)
25 July 1982 25 July 1987 Ramaswamy Venkataraman
R. Venkataraman
Ramaswamy Venkataraman was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union minister and as the eighth President of India....

1982 election page
Indian presidential election, 1982
The Election Commission of India held indirect 8th presidential elections of India on July 1982. Zail Singh with 754,113 votes won over his nearest rival H.R...


In March 1972, Singh assumed the position of chief Minister of Punjab, and in 1980, he became Union Home Minister.
8 Ramaswamy Venkataraman
R. Venkataraman
Ramaswamy Venkataraman was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union minister and as the eighth President of India....

 
(1910–2009)
25 July 1987 25 July 1992 Shankar Dayal Sharma
Shankar Dayal Sharma
Shankar Dayal Sharma was the ninth President of India serving from 1992 to 1997. Prior to his presidency, Dr Sharma had been the eighth Vice President of India, serving under President Ramaswamy Venkataraman...

1987 election page
Indian presidential election, 1987
The Election Commission of India held indirect 9th presidential elections of India on July 1987. R. Venkataraman with 740,148 votes won over his nearest rival V.R. Krishna Iyer who got 281,550 votes.-Results:...


In 1942, Venkataraman was jailed by the British for his involvement in the India's independence
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...

 movement. 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.
9 Shankar Dayal Sharma
Shankar Dayal Sharma
Shankar Dayal Sharma was the ninth President of India serving from 1992 to 1997. Prior to his presidency, Dr Sharma had been the eighth Vice President of India, serving under President Ramaswamy Venkataraman...

 
(1918–1999)
25 July 1992 25 July 1997 Kocheril Raman Narayanan
K. R. Narayanan
Kocheril Raman Narayanan , also known as K. R. Narayanan, was the tenth President of India. He was the first Dalit, and the first Malayali, to have been President....

1992 election page
Indian presidential election, 1992
The Election Commission of India held indirect 10th presidential elections of India on 24 July 1992. Shankar Dayal Sharma with 675,864 votes won over his nearest rival G.G. Swell who got 346,485 votes.-Candidates:...


Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....

, and the Indian Minister for Communications. He has also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

, Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

 and Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

.
10 Kocheril Raman Narayanan 
(1920–2005)
25 July 1997 25 July 2002 Krishan Kant
Krishan Kant
Krishan Kant was the tenth Vice President of India from 1997 until his death.Kant's first brush with politics came when he plunged into the Quit India movement, while he was still a student in Lahore. He took part in the Indian Independence Movement as a youth and continued to be involved in...

1997 election page
Indian presidential election, 1997
The Election Commission of India held indirect 11th presidential elections of India on 17 July 1997. K.R. Narayanan with 956,290 votes won over his nearest rival T.N. Seshan who got 50,631 votes. K.R. Narayanan was the first dalit to be President of India.-Results:...


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. He was also the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University, also known as JNU, is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. It is mainly a research oriented postgraduate University with approximately 5,500 students and a faculty strength of around 550.-History:...

.
11 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
(1931–)
25 July 2002 25 July 2007 Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was the 11th Vice-President of India. He served in that position from August 2002, when he was elected to a five-year term by the electoral college following the death of Krishan Kant, until he resigned on July 21, 2007, after losing the presidential election to Pratibha...

2002 election page
Indian presidential election, 2002
The Election Commission of India held indirect 12th presidential elections of India on 15 July 2002. On July 18, 2002, Abdul Kalam with 922,884 votes won over his nearest rival Lakshmi Sahgal who got 107,336 votes. Abdul Kalam was the third Muslim to be President of India after Zakir Hussain and...


Kalam, was a scientist who played a leading role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. Kalam also received the Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna is the Republic of India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order." Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna...

.
12 Pratibha Patil
Pratibha Patil
Pratibha Devisingh Patil is the 12th President of the Republic of India and first woman to hold the office. She was sworn in as President of India on 25 July 2007, succeeding Dr. A.P.J...


(1934–)
25 July 2007 Incumbent Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Mohammad Hamid Ansari ) is the 12th and current Vice President of India. He is a former chairman of the National Commission for Minorities...

2007 election page
Indian presidential election, 2007
The Election Commission of India held indirect 13th presidential elections of India on 19 July 2007. Pratibha Patil with 638,116 votes won over her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who got 331,306 votes...


Patil is the first woman to become the President of India. She was also the first female Governor of Rajasthan.

External links




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