Presidents of India are also called as Head of State and they are also referred as the first citizen. Presidents of India are the Commander in Chief of Indian Armed Forces. The president is elected by the Electoral College system which is composed of members of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and members from State legislative assembly. The post of President came into existence when India was declared Republic on 26 Jan 1950. There have been 13 Thirteen Presidents so far from the date when India became republic. Apart from these 13, there have been 3 Acting Presidents also who worked for short terms.
12 Interesting Facts about Presidents of India
- Rashtrapati Bhavan which is the Official Residence of President of India was earlier called Viceroy’s House. This was built under Charles Hardinge who was the then Viceroy of India. This Viceroy’s House was renamed as Rashtrapati Bhavan when Rajendra Prasad became the first President and occupied this building.
- V V Giri became first Acting President of India in 1969 after the death of Zakir Hussain in office.
- V V Giri was elected full feldged President just after few months. He was the only person who worked as Acting President and President.
- There were 2 Presidents who died during their incumbency period ie on Chair. They were – Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad.
- Rajendra Prasad was the first President of Republic India. He was the only person who held the chair twice.
- The only woman to serve the post of President was Pratibha Patil who was the 12th President.
- The only President (Acting) who worked earlier as Chief Justice of India and was Recipient of Order of British Empire – Mohammad Hidayatullah.
- The only President who earlier worked as 1 st Chief Minister of a State – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. He was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
- The only President who earlier worked as Speaker of Lok Sabha – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.
- The only President who was a Scientist – A P J Abdul Kalam
- Only 4 Presidents who received Bharat Ratna – S Radhakrishnan in 1954, Rajendra Prasad in 1962, Zakir Hussain in 1963, APJ Abdul Kalam in 1997.
- The only President who was from Janta Party – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Out of 13 Presidents 7 belonged to Political Parties. Out of these 7, 6 Presidents belonged to Congress and only one belonged to Janta Party before being elected to chair.
Also Read – President Election Process in India
List of all Indian Presidents so far and their term
| Name | From | To | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rajendra Prasad | 1952 | 1957 | He was freedom fighter and served twice the chair. He belonged to Bihar. |
| Rajendra Prasad | 1957 | 1962 | Elected Again for 2nd term. |
| S Radhakrishnan | 1962 | 1967 | He was Philosopher and writer. Worked as Vice Chancellor of Andhra University and BHU. He received Bharat Ratna Award before becoming President. |
| Zakir Husain | 1967 | 1969 | He was Vice Chancellor of Aligarh muslim University. He died in office |
| V V Giri | 1969 | 1969 | Worked as Acting President. Resigned in 3 months to take part for President Election |
| Mohammad Hidayatullah | 1969 | 1969 | Worked as Acting President till election of President. Earlier worked as Chief Justice. |
| V V Giri | 1969 | 1974 | Only person to worked both as President and Acting President |
| Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad | 1974 | 1977 | He was 2nd President to die in office. |
| B D Jatti | 1977 | 1977 | He was working as Vice President during Ali's tenure. He was made acting President. |
| Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | 1977 | 1982 | He worked as the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh |
| Giani Zail Singh | 1982 | 1987 | He earlier worked as Chief Minister of Punjab and also worked as Home Minister of India. |
| R Venkatraman | 1987 | 1992 | He worked with Four Prime Ministers and appointed three of them. |
| S D Sharma | 1992 | 1997 | He earlier worked as Chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Also served as Governor of Andhra, Punjab & Maharsashtra |
| K R Narayanan | 1997 | 2002 | He worked as Vice Chancellor of JNU. |
| A P J Abdul Kalam | 2002 | 2007 | He was the only person who worked as scientist. He was also called Missile man. |
| Pratibha Patil | 2007 | 2012 | She was first woman to become President. She was also the first woman Governor of Rajasthan |
| Pranab Mukherjee | 2012 | 24.07.2017 | He was the only Bengali person to become President. He worked several on post like Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister |
| Ram Nath Kovind | 25.07.2017 | Lawyer by profession, he served as Rajya Sabha MP from UP for 12 years. He also served as Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017. |