The Presidents of India : Achievements and Important Facts.
The President of India is the head of state of India and the Commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The Indian President is referred to as the first citizen of India.
There have been 14 Presidents of India since the post was established when India was declared as a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950. Apart from these fourteen, three Acting Presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri became the Acting President in 1969 after Dr. Zakir Husain, died in office. He was elected President a few months later. Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri remains the only person to have held office both as a President and Acting President. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.
Two Presidents, Dr. Zakir Husain and Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office.
This list is numbered based on Presidents elected after winning an Indian Presidential election. The terms of Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1969), Mohammad Hidayatullah, and Basappa Danappa 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.
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List of all Indian Presidents (Nominated and Acting both) Term of Office with Achievement and Important Facts
1) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963)
Term of Office: 26 January 1950 to 13 May 1962
Dr. Rajendra Prasad, from Bihar, was the first President of independent India and also the longest-serving President, as the only president to serve two terms in office. He was also a freedom fighter during the Indian independence movement.
2) Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975)
Term of Office: 13 May 1962 to 13 May 1967
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher and writer and also held the position of vice-chancellor of the Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. He received the Bharat Ratna award in 1954 before becoming the President. He was the first President from South India.
3) Dr. Zakir Husain (1897-1969)
Term of Office: 13 May 1967 to 3 May 1969
Dr. Zakir Husain was vice-chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. He died in office, the first to do so. He was also the shortest-serving President. He was also the first Muslim President.
Shri Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992) (Acting President)
Term of Office: 20 July 1969 to 24 August 1969
Shri Mohammad Hidayatullah served as the Chief Justice of India and was also a recipient of the Order of the British Empire. He served as Acting President until the election of Giri as the President of India.
4) Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894-1980)
Term of Office: 3 May 1969 to 20 July 1969 and 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974
He was elected Vice President of India in 1967. Following the death of President Dr. Zakir Husain, Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri was appointed as Acting President. He resigned after a few months to take part in the presidential elections. Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri was the first person to have served as both an acting president and president of India. He was a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and served as Indian Minister of Labour and High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
5) Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905-1977)
Term of Office: 24 August 1974 to 11 February 1977
Dr. 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. He was also president during Emergency.
Shri Basappa Danappa Jatti (1912–2002) (Acting President)
Term of Office: 11 February 1977 to 25 July 1977
Shri Basappa Danappa 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 served as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore State.
6) Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913-1996)
Term of Office: 25 July 1977 to 25 July 1982
Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Shri Neelam Sanjiva 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 on 26 March 1977 and relinquished this office on 13 July 1977 to become the 6th President of India.
7) Shri Giani Zail Singh (1916-1994)
Term of Office: 25 July 1982 to 25 July 1987
In March 1972, Shri Giani Zail 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.
8) Shri Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910-2009)
Term of Office: 25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992
In 1942, Shri Ramaswamy Venkataraman was jailed by the British for his involvement in the Indian independence 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) Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918-1999)
Term of Office: 25 July 1992 to 25 July 1997
Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Minister for Communications. He also served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra.
10) Shri Kocheril Raman Narayanan (1920 - 2005)
Term of Office: 25 July 1997 to 25 July 2002
Shri Kocheril Raman 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 ofJawaharlal Nehru University. He was the first Dalit President.
11) Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (1931-2015)
Term of Office: 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007
Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was an educator and engineer who played a leading role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. He also received the Bharat Ratna. He died following a heart attack while delivering a speech in Shillong.
12) Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil (birth - 1934)
Term of Office: 25 July 2007 to 25 July 2012
Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil was the first woman to become the President of India. She was also the first female governor of Rajasthan.
13) Shri Pranab Mukherjee (b - 1935)
Term of Office: 25 July 2012 to 25 July 2017
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.
14) Shri Ram Nath Kovind (b - 1945)
Term Of Office: 25 July 2017 - Incumbent
Shri Ram Nath Kovind was governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017 and a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2006. He is the second Dalit president (after K. R. Narayanan) and is the first President from the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and Before become President, He was member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since his youth.
Important Facts about Election of an Indian President
The President is elected by the elected members of the Parliament houses, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislative assemblies. 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.
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