List of Presidents of India  

The President is the head of the Indian State. He is also the Executive Head of India and all the executive powers of the Union are vested in him. The President is the Supreme Commander of the armed forces. He is the first citizen of India and acts as a symbol of unity, integrity, and solidarity of the nation. He is not directly elected by the people of India. He is elected by an electoral college composed of the elected members of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and elected members of the legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha) of the states or Union territories. The election of the President is held through a single transferable vote system of proportional representation. The voting is done by a secret ballot. He is elected for a term of five years. The President can be removed from office on charges of violation of the constitution.

The President of India has been made only a nominal executive. The real executive is the council of ministers headed by the prime minister. In other words, the President has to exercise his powers and functions with the aid and advice of the council of ministers headed by the prime minister.

India gained independence on August 15, 1947, and became a republic on January 26, 1950, when its constitution came into force. The Constituent Assembly of India met for the last time on January 24, 1950, two days before the Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950. On that day, elections for the post of the first President of India were to be held. There was only one nominee for the post, Rajendra Prasad, and he was elected unopposed as the President. He was sworn in on the first Republic Day, January 26, 1950. Though, the Election Commission of India held the first presidential elections in India on May 2, 1952. Dr. Rajendra Prasad won the presidential election and became the President of India.

There have been 15 presidents of India since the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950. Apart from these fifteen, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. Refer to the table given below to learn about the Presidents of India from 1950 to 2022.

Qualifications for Election as President

In order to be qualified for election as President, a person must:

• He should be a citizen of India.
• He should have completed the age of 35 years.
• He should be qualified to be elected as a member of the Lok Sabha.
• He should not hold any office of profit under the Union government or any state government or any local authority or any other public authority. But a sitting President or Vice-President of the Union or the Governor of any state or a Minister either for the Union or for any state is not disqualified for election as President.

General Information About the Presidents of India

Some important facts related to the Presidents of India are given below:

• Rajendra Prasad: The first president of India was Rajendra Prasad, who worked as president for two terms. He was also the president of the Constituent Assembly of India. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1962. He was the longest-serving Indian President.
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the first Vice President of India. His birthday is celebrated as “Teacher’s Day” on 5th September every year in India. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954.
• Zakir Hussain:  Zakir Hussain was the first Muslim president of India. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1963. He was the shortest-serving president of India. Zakir Husain was the first President who died in his post of president.
• Varahagiri Venkata Giri: Varahagiri Venkata Giri was the first acting President of India. He remains the only person to have held office both as a president and an acting president. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1975.
• Fakhruddin din Ali Ahmed: Fakhruddin din Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of India and was the second President who died in his post of president.
• Neelam Sanjiva Reddy: Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the 6th President of India and he was the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. He contested for the post of President twice.
• Giani Zail Singh: Giani Zail Singh was the first Sikh President of India. He was also the chief minister of Punjab and the Minister at the center.
• Ramaswamy Venkataraman: Ramaswamy Venkataraman was the 8th president of India. He was also the vice president of India from 1984 to 1987.
•  Shankar Dayal Sharma: Shankar Dayal Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the Indian Minister for Communications.
• Kocheril Raman Narayanan: Kocheril Raman Narayanan was the first Dalit President of India. He served as India’s ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and the United States of America.
• Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam: He was the first scientist who became the President of India and he is also known as the missile man of India. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997.
• Pratibha Patil: Pratibha Patil was the first female President of India. Before that, she was the governor of Rajasthan. She was the first woman president to fly Sukhoi.
• Pranab Mukherjee: Pranab Mukherjee was the finance minister in the central government before contesting the presidential elections. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019.
• Ramnath Kovind: Ramnath Kovind was the 14th president of India. He is the former governor of Bihar.
• Draupadi Murmu: Draupadi Murmu is the 15th President of India. She is the first person belonging to the tribal community who became President of India. She is the second female President of India. She is the former governor of Jharkhand.

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