List of all Presidents of India from 1950-2024


4. VV Giri

Source: The Print

VV Giri is the fourth President of India. His full name is Varahagiri Venkata Giri. He is the only person to have been elected as an independent candidate. In 1975, he was awarded the Rakshasa Award.

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5. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of India. He was the second President to die in office. BD Jatta was appointed Acting President.

6. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy

Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy became the sixth President of India. He was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He was directly elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha, becoming the youngest President to ever sit in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and ran for the presidency twice.

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7. Giani Zhail Singh

Before becoming president, he had also served as Chief Minister of Punjab and a central minister. He also exercised pocket veto over the Indian Postal Service Bill. During his presidency, many events took place such as Operation Bluestar, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

8. R. Venkataraman

R. Venkataraman was elected as the President of India from 25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992. Prior to that, he served as the Vice President of India from 1984 to 1987. He has received many honors from all over the world. He was awarded the ‘Tamra Patra’ award for his contribution to the Indian freedom struggle. Apart from this, the Russian government also awarded him the Soviet Land Award for writing a travelogue of former Tamil Nadu Prime Minister Kumaraswamy Kamaraj.

9. Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma

He served as the eighth Vice President of India before becoming President. He was the Chief Minister of Bhopal from 1952 to 1956 and a Cabinet Minister from 1956 to 1967. The International Bar Association has awarded them the Living Legends of the Law Award for their many achievements in the legal profession.

10. KR Narayanan

KR Narayanan is India’s first Dalit president and the first Malayali to hold the country’s highest office. He is the first president to vote in the Lok Sabha elections and address the state assembly.

11. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

Dr. Abdul Kalam came to be known as the “Missile Man of India”. He was the first scientist to serve as President and the first President of India to win the most votes. Under his leadership, the Rohini-1 satellite, Agni and Prithvi missiles were successfully launched. He played a key political, organizational and technical role in the Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, which followed India’s first nuclear test in 1974. In 1997, he was awarded the Rakshasa Award.

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12. Shrimati Pratibha Singh Patil

Before becoming president, she was the governor of Rajasthan. She was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly five times between 1962 and 1985 and was elected to the Amravati Lok Sabha in 1991. Not only that, she is also the first woman president to fly a Sukhoi aircraft.

13. Pranab Mukherjee

Pranab Mukherjee was the finance minister in the central government before he ran for president. He received the Best Parliamentary Award in 1997 and the Padma Bhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour, in 2008. He died on Monday, August 31, 2020, at the age of 84.

14. Ram Nath Kovind

Ram Nath Kovind was born on 1 October 1945 in Uttar Pradesh, India. He is an Indian lawyer and politician. He is the 14th and current President of India. He assumed office as President on 25 July 2017 and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the Governor of Bihar. His approach to political issues won him praise from across the political spectrum. His achievement as Governor was to set up a judicial commission to investigate corruption in universities.

15. Draupadi Murmu

On July 25, 2022, Draupadi Murmu became the 15th President of India. Draupadi Murmu was born on June 20, 1958 in Upabeda village in Mayubhanj district of Odisha to a Santali tribal family. Her father is Bilanchi Narayan Thudu. She was the Governor of Jharkhand. In 2007, Draupadi Murmu received the Neelkantha Best MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) Award from the Odisha Legislative Assembly.

No. Name Position
1 Rajendra Prasad January 26, 1950 – May 13, 1962
2 Savapalli Radhakrishnan May 13, 1962 – May 13, 1967
3 Zakir Hussain May 13, 1967 – May 3, 1969
VV Giri (Acting Chairman) May 3, 1969 – July 20, 1969
Mohammad Hidayatullah (Acting President) July 20, 1969 – August 24, 1969
4 Jiri August 24, 1969 – August 24, 1974
5 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed August 24, 1974 – February 11, 1977
Basappa Danapa Jati (Acting Chairman) February 11, 1977 – July 25, 1977
6 Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy July 25, 1977 – July 25, 1982
7 Giani Zhail Singh July 25, 1982 – July 25, 1987
8 R Venkataraman July 25, 1987 – July 25, 1992
9 Shankar Dayal Sharma July 25, 1992 – July 25, 1997
10 Narayanan July 25, 1997 – July 25, 2002
11 APJ Abdul Kalam July 25, 2002 – July 25, 2007
12 Pratibha Patil July 25, 2007 – July 25, 2012
Thirteen Pranab Mukherjee July 25, 2017 – July 25, 2017
14 Ram Nath Kovind July 25, 2017 – July 25, 2022
15 Draupadi Murmu July 25, 2022 – Incumbent

President of India: Elections and Power

Part V (Federation) Chapter I (Executive) of the Constitution details the qualifications, election and impeachment of the President of India. Part V, Articles 52 to 78 of the Constitution deal with the federal executive. The President of India is also the head of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the country.

The president serves for a five-year term, starting from the day he takes office. However, he can resign at any time by submitting a letter of resignation to the vice president. In addition, the president can be removed from office through impeachment proceedings before the end of his term. The president can continue to serve for five more years until his successor takes office. He is also eligible for re-election to the position.

The President of India is elected by an Electoral College, which includes elected members of both Houses of Parliament, elected members of state legislative assemblies and elected members of the Union Territory Legislative Assembly of Delhi and Puducherry, whose members have priority. Their votes are one-time transferable and their second choice is also counted.

Interesting Facts About Indian Presidents

  • Only Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, served two terms.
  • After Zakir Hussain died in office in 1969, V.V. Giri took over as interim president.
  • He remains the only person to hold both positions.
  • Of the total fourteen presidents, three acting presidents also served briefly as president.
  • Two presidents, Zakir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, died in office.
  • The President of India holds a ceremonial position in the government.
  • The President is not elected by citizens but by elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories.
  • Dr. Rajendra Prasad is the longest serving President in the history of India.
  • Pratibha Patil was elected as the country’s 12th president in 2007, the first woman to hold the office.

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So, these are the presidents of India from 1947 to 2024. Please read the above article to enhance your knowledge about this.

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