The president of India is the head of state of the Republic of India and the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The president is referred to as the first citizen of India. Although vested with these powers by the Constitution of India, the position is largely a ceremonial one and executive powers are de facto exercised by the prime minister.

The president is elected by the Electoral College composed of elected members of the parliament houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok 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.

There have been 15 presidents of India since the post was established when India was declared a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950. Apart from these fifteen, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. V. V. Giri became the acting president in 1969 after Zakir Husain 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. Rajendra Prasad, the first president of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.

Seven presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. Six of these were active party members of the Indian National Congress. The Janata Party has had one member, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who later became president. Two presidents, Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office. Their vice presidents served as acting presidents until a new president was elected. Following Zakir Husain's death, two acting presidents held office until the new president, V. V. Giri, was elected. When Giri resigned to take part in the presidential elections, he was succeeded by Mohammad Hidayatullah as acting president. Pratibha Patil is the first woman to hold the office, elected in 2007.

On 25 July 2022, Droupadi Murmu took office as the president of India, becoming the second woman and the first tribal person to hold the office.

List of presidents This list is numbered based on presidents elected after winning an Indian presidential election. The terms of V. V. Giri, Mohammad Hidayatullah and B. D. 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.

Legend

Key Resigned Assassinated or died in office

PortraitNameTerm of officeElection Vice president PartyRajendra Prasad 26 January 1950 13 May 19621952 Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanIndian National Congress1957Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 13 May 1962 13 May 19671962Zakir HusainIndependentZakir Husain 13 May 1967 3 May 19691967V. V. GiriV. V. Giri 3 May 1969 20 July 1969Mohammad Hidayatullah 20 July 1969 24 August 1969V. V. Giri 24 August 1969 24 August 19741969Gopal Swarup PathakIndependentFakhruddin Ali Ahmed 24 August 1974 11 February 19771974Gopal Swarup Pathak

B. D. Jatti Indian National Congress (R)B. D. Jatti 11 February 1977 25 July 1977Neelam Sanjiva Reddy 25 July 1977 25 July 19821977B. D. Jatti

Mohammad Hidayatullah Janata PartyZail Singh 25 July 1982 25 July 19871982Mohammad Hidayatullah

Ramaswamy Venkataraman Indian National Congress (I)Ramaswamy Venkataraman 25 July 1987 25 July 19921987Shankar Dayal SharmaShankar Dayal Sharma 25 July 1992 25 July 19971992K. R. NarayananK. R. Narayanan 25 July 1997 25 July 20021997Krishan KantA. P. J. Abdul Kalam 25 July 2002 25 July 20072002Krishan Kant

Bhairon Singh ShekhawatIndependent Pratibha Patil 25 July 2007 25 July 20122007Hamid AnsariIndian National CongressPranab Mukherjee 25 July 2012 25 July 20172012Ram Nath Kovind 25 July 2017 25 July 20222017Hamid Ansari

Venkaiah Naidu Bharatiya Janata PartyDroupadi Murmu25 July 2022Incumbent2022Venkaiah Naidu

Jagdeep Dhankhar

C. P. Radhakrishnan

Statistics

Timeline

Lifespans

See also President of India Vice President of India Prime Minister of India List of vice presidents of India List of prime ministers of India List of heads of state and government of Indian origin

Citations

External links