List of Presidents of India

List of Presidents of India

The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India. The President is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. 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 and Prime Minister. The post of President is known in Hindi as Rashtrapati, a Sanskrit neologism meaning "lord of the realm". The President is elected by the Electoral College composed of elected members of the parliament houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislative assemblies.

There have been 13 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 thirteen, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. Varahagiri Venkata Giri became Acting President of India in 1969 following the death of Zakir Hussain, 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, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.

The current President is Pranab Mukherjee elected on 25 July 2012. 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. He originally comes from West Bengal and is also the first Bengali to hold the post of the President. The ex- president, Pratibha Patil, who was in office till 25 July 2012, was elected as the 12th President of India in 2007. She is also the first woman to serve as President of India.

PRESIDENTS

SL No	Name	From Date	To Date
1	Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963)	26 January 1950	13 May 1962
2	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)	13 May 1962	13 May 1967
3	Zakir Hussain (1897–1969)	13 May 1967	3 May 1969
4	Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894–1980)	24 August 1969	24 August 1974
5	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977)	24 August 1974	11 February 1977
6	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913–1996)	25 July 1977	25 July 1982
7	Giani Zail Singh (1916–1994)	25 July 1982	25 July 1987
8	Ramaswamy Venkataraman (4 December 1910–2009)	25 July 1987	25 July 1992
9	Shankar Dayal Sharma (19 August 1918–1999)	25 July 1992	25 July 1997
10	Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1920–2005)	25 July 1997	25 July 2002
11	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (15 October1931– )	25 July 2002	25 July 2007
12	Pratibha Patil (1934– )	25 July 2007	25 July 2012
13	Pranab Mukherjee (1935– )	25 July 2012	Incumbent

For regular updates, follow us on facebook, to join: Click Here