List of Vice-Presidents of India
The Vice-President occupies the second highest office in the country. He is accorded a rank next to the President in the official warrant of precedence. According to the Constitution, the Vice-President functions as ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Being ex-officio Chairman means that he is the Chairman in the capacity of being the Vice-President. His main function is to preside over the meetings of Rajya Sabha, as is done by the Speaker in the Lok Sabha.
The Vice-President of India is elected not directly by the people but by members of the electoral college. This electoral college includes the members of both Houses of Parliament. The Vice-President is elected according to the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, and the voting is by secret ballot. The oath of office to the Vice-President is administered by the President or some person appointed in that behalf by him. He is elected for a term of five years. He can also be removed from the office before the completion of his term.
India gained independence on August 15, 1947, and became a republic on January 26, 1950, when its constitution came into force. There have been 14 Vice-Presidents of India since the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950. Refer to the table given below to learn about the Vice-Presidents of India from 1952 to 2022.
| Serial Number | Name | Tenure |
| 1 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | 13 May 1952 – 13 May 1962 |
| 2 | Zakir Husain | 13 May 1962 – 13 May 1967 |
| 3 | Varahagiri Venkata Giri | 13 May 1967 – 3 May 1969 |
| 4 | Gopal Swarup Pathak | 31 August 1969 – 31 August 1974 |
| 5 | B. D. Jatti | 31 August 1974 – 31 August 1979 |
| 6 | M. Hidayatullah | 31 August 1979 – 31 August 1984 |
| 7 | R. Venkataraman | 31 August 1984 – 24 July 1987 |
| 8 | Shanker Dayal Sharma | 3 September 1987 – 24 July 1992 |
| 9 | K. R. Narayanan | 21 August 1992 – 24 July 1997 |
| 10 | Krishan Kant | 21 August 1997 – 27 July 2002 |
| 11 | Bhairon Singh Shekhawat | 19 August 2002 – 21 July 2007 |
| 12 | M. Hamid Ansari | 11 August 2007 – 11 August 2017 |
| 13 | M. Venkaiah Naidu | 11 August 2017 – 11 August 2022 |
| 14 | Jagdeep Dhankhar | 11 August 2022 – Incumbent |
Qualifications for Election as Vice-President
In order to be qualified for election as Vice-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 Rajya 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 Vice-President.
Some Important Facts about the Vice-President
Some important facts related to the Vice-Presidents of India are given below:
- Out of 14 Vice-Presidents, six of them later went on to become the President. These Vice-Presidents are Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, Varahagiri Venkata Giri, R. Venkataraman, Shanker Dayal Sharma and K. R. Narayanan.
- Krishna Kant was the first Vice-President who died in his post of Vice-President.
- M. Venkaiah Naidu is the first Vice-President to be born after Independent India is formed.
- The first Vice-President of India was Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
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