Presidents of India

The President of India is Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and the first citizen of India.The President is elected by members of Lok Sabha;Rajya Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies.The President may remain in office for a tenure of five years, as stated by article 56, part V, of the constitution of India.


7 Presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. 6 of these were active party members of the INC.The Janatha Party has had one member,Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who later became President.


 President who died in Office
2 Presidents died in Office -
Zakir Hussain(Feb 08,1897- May 03,1969) was the 3rd President during May 13,1967 - May 03,1969 and was the 1st Muslim to be elected President of India
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed(May 13,1905- Feb 11,1977) was the 5th President of India during Aug 24 1974 - Feb 11,1977 and became the 2nd Muslim to be elected President

  
President  and Acting President
V V Giri was the only person to have held office both as a President and Acting President.He became Acting President in May 1969 following the death of Zakir Hussain and was elected as the 4th President of India in  Aug 1969

 President in office for two terms

 Presidents of India(1952-2012)

1)Rajendra Prasad(Dec 03,1884 - Feb 28,1963) the 1st President of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms during Jan 26,1950 - May 13,1962.One of the architects of the Indian Republic, having drafted its first constitution.

2)Dr S Radhakrishnan (1888-1975): Term (May 13, 1962 - May 13, 1967) One of India's most influential scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan is credited with building bridges between the East and the West by showing that the philosophical systems of each tradition are comprehensible within the terms of the other. 
Among the many honours he received were a knighthood (1931), the Bharat Ratna (1954) and the Order of Merit in 1963. Sept 5, his birthday, is celebrated as Teachers' Day in India.

3)Dr Zakir Husain (1897-1969): Term (May 13, 1967 - May 3, 1969) An educationist and thinker par excellence, Dr Hussain founded the Jamia Millia Islamia and was the Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University. The first elected Muslim president of India, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1963

4)V V Giri (1894-1980): Term (May 3, 1969 - July 20, 1969 and Aug 24, 1969 - Aug 24, 1974)
Giri became acting President in 1969 upon the death in office of Dr Zakir Hussain and decided to run for that position in the ensuing election. The Congress leadership chose to support Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for the position, but being Indira's choice, Giri was able to prevail. He received the Bharat Ratna in 1975. 

5)Dr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905-1977): Term (Aug 24, 1974 - Feb 11, 1977) Picked for the presidency by Indira Gandhi in 1974, he became the second Muslim to be elected to the post. He is known to have issued the proclamation of Emergency by signing the papers at midnight after a meeting with Indira Gandhi the same day. 

6)Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913-1996): Term (July 25, 1977 - July 25, 1982) In 1969, Indira Gandhi, knowing that Sanjiva Reddy was too independent a person to toe her line, ensured the victory of V V Giri as India's President. Reddy left Congress. He entered active politics again in 1975 along with Jayaprakash Narayan.
In July 1977, he was elected the President, the youngest ever to hold the post .

7)Giani Zail Singh (1916-1994): Term (July 25, 1982 - July 25, 1987) "If my leader (Indira Gandhi) had said I should pick up a broom and be a sweeper, I would have done that. She chose me to be President," Singh was quoted to have said after his election. His term was marked by Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. 

8)R Venkataraman (1910-2009): Term (July 25, 1987 - July 25, 1992) Venkataraman had the unique distinction of working with four Prime Ministers, and appointing three of them: V P Singh, Chandra Shekhar and P V Narasimha Rao, during his five-year term, which saw the advent of coalition politics in India.
 Seen in the picture with veteran BJP leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice-President of India (2002-07) 

9)Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918-1999): Term (July 25, 1992 - July 25, 1997)
Sharma was known to be a stickler for parliamentary norms. During his last year as President, it was his responsibility to swear in three Prime Ministers.   

10)K R Narayanan (1920-2005): Term (July 25, 1997 - July 25, 2002)
A magazine described K R Narayanan's journey from a 'chetta kudil' (meanest hut) to Rashtrapathi Bhavan as a saga which has no parallel in India and is certainly more remarkable than that of Abraham Lincoln from a log cabin to the White House. Known as an activist President, his interventions during the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 is unparalleled by the otherwise non-partisan standards of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Seen here with the BJP veteran Atal Behari Vajpayee.    

11)Dr A P J Abdul Kalam (born 1931): Term (July 25, 2002 - July 25, 2007) 
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam's popularity as President is unparalleled. Being a bachelor, he literally threw open the doors of the Rashtrapati Bhawan for people from all walks of life, and of course children.

12)Pratibha Patil (born 1934): Term (July 25, 2007 - till date)
Pratibha Devisingh Patil created history by becoming the country's first woman President. Patil surprised the nation by being chosen the UPA-Left's consensus candidate for the Presidential election. Although hers was a largely insignificant presidency, Patil's foreign tours that allegedly cost the public exchequer a whopping Rs 205 crore created a lot of controversy during her tenure.  



There have been 12 Presidents of India as of June 2012 since the introduction of the post in 1950.

S No	Name	Tenure	Vice President	Notes
1	Rajendra Prasad	Jan 26,1950 – May 13,1962	S Radhakrishnan
2	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	May 13,1962 – May 13,1967	Zakir Hussain
3	Zakir Hussain	May 13,1967 – May 03,1969	V V Giri
4	Varahagiri Venkata Giri	Aug 24,1969 - Aug 24,1974	G S Pathak
5	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	Aug 24,1974 – Feb 11,1977	B D Jatti
6	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	July 25,1977- July 25,1982	Md Hidayattulah
7	Giani Zail Singh	July 25,1982- July 25,1987	R Venkataraman
8	Ramasamy Venkataraman	July 25,1987- July 25,1992	S D Sharma
9	Shankar Dayal Sharma	July 25,1992- July 25,1997	K R Narayanan
10	Kocheril Raman Narayanan	July 25,1997- July 25,2002	Krishan Kant
11	A P J Abdul Kalam	July 25,2002- July 25,2007	B S Shekhawat
12	Pratibha Patil	July 25,2007- July 25,2012	Md Hamid Ansari