The President of India is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. There have been 13 presidents since 1950, with three others serving briefly as acting presidents. The president is elected by an electoral college and may hold office for a five year term. The current president is Pranab Mukherjee, who was elected in 2012.

1. 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 armed forces of India.
The post of President is known in Hindi as:
“Rashtrapathi”, a Sanskrit neologism meaning "lord of the realm"
The President is elected by an 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.
Apart from these twelve, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of
time.
Varahagiri Venkata Giri became First 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.[1]
Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for two
terms.
Two presidents, Zakir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office. Their vice-
presidents functioned as acting president until a new president was elected.
Following Hussain's death, two acting presidents held office until the new president, Varahagiri
Venkata Giri, was elected. Varahagiri Venkata Giri himself, Hussain's vice president, was the
first acting president. When Giri resigned to take part in the presidential elections, he was
superseded by Muhammad Hidayatullah as acting president.
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.

2. # NAME TENURE VICE PRESIDENT NOTE
1 RAJENDRA
PRASAD
26 JAN 1950
–
13 MAY 1962
SARVEPALLI
RADHAKRISHNAN
1. Rajendra Prasad won the 1st
Presidential Elections held on
May 2, 1952 beating his nearest rival K.T. Shah
2. Rajendra Prasad was the first predient of Independent India
from Bihar.
3. Rajendra Prasad also won the 2nd Presidential Elections
held on May 6, 1957 beating his nearest rivals Chowdry
Hari Ram and Nagendra Narayan Das.
4. Dr. Rajendra Prasad has been the only person to won and
served two terms as president of India.
2
SARVEPALLI
RADHAKRISHNAN
13 MAY 1962
–
13 MAY 1967
ZAKIR HUSSAIN
1. S. Radhakrishnan won the 3rd
Presidential Elections held
on May 6, 1962 beating his nearest rival Chowdry Hari
Ram.
2. He also held the position as the Vice chancellor of Andhra
University and Banaras Hindu University.
3 ZAKIR HUSSIAN
13 MAY 1967
-
13 MAY 1969
VARAHAGIRI
VENKATA GIRI
1. Zakir Hussain won the 4th
presidential Elections held on
May 6, 1967 beating his nearest rival Koka Subbarao.
VARAHGIR
VENKATA GIRI
(Acting president)
3 MAY 1969
–
20 JULY 1969
1. Giri was appointed as the Acting president of India
following the death of Zakir Hussain.
2. He resigned in a few months to take part in the
presidential Elections.
MUHAMMAD
HIDAYATULLAH
(Acting President)
20 JULY 1969
–
24 AUGUST
1969
1. Hidayatullah served as the Chief Justice of India and
was the Recipient of the Order of the British Empire.
2. He served as the Acting President of India until GIRI
was elected as the President of India.
4
VARAHAGIRI
VENKATA GIRI
24 AUGUST
1969
–
24 AUGUST
1974
GOPAL SWARUP
PATHAK
1. GIRI won the 5th
presidential Elections of India beating
his nearest rival Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy.
2. He was the Recipient of Bharat Ratna and has
functioned as Minister of Labour and High
Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

3. 5
FAKHRUDDIN ALI
AHMED
24 AUGUST
1974
–
11
FEBRUARUY
1977
BASAPPA
DANAPPA JATTI
1. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed won the 6th
Presidential
Elections beating his nearest rival Tridib Chauduri.
BASAPPA
DANAPPA JATTI
(Acting President)
11
FEBRUARY
1977
–
25 JULY 1977
1. Jatti was the vice president of India during Ahmed’s
term and sworn in as the Acting President Upon
Ahmed’s death.
2. He earlier functioned as the Chief Minister for the state
of Mysore.
6
NEELAM
SANJEEVA REDDY
(Youngest
President)
25 JULY 1977
–
25 JULY 1982
MUHAMMAD
HIDAYATULLAH
1. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy won the 7th
Presidential
Elections held on August 6,1977.
2. Even though, 37 Candidates filled their Nominations, 36
of them were rejected, leading to Neelam Sanjeeva
Reddy being the only president of India winnign
Unopposed.
7
GIANI ZAIL SINGH
25 JULY 1982
–
25 JULY 1987
RAMASWAMY
VENKATARAMAN
1. Zail Singh won 8th presidential elections of India on
July 1982 over his nearest rival HR Khanna.
2. In March 1972, Singh assumed the position of chief
Minister of Punjab, and in 1980, he became Union
Home Minister.
3. ZAIL singh was the first sikh to be the president of
India.
8 RAMASWAMY
VENKATARAMAN
25 JULY 1987
–
25 JULY 1992
SHANKAR DAYAL
SHARMA
1. He won 9th presidential elections of Indiaon July 1987
over his nearest rival V.R. Krishna Iyer.
2. He was elected to independent India’s Provisional
Parliament as a member of the Congress Party in 1950
and eventually joined the central government, where he
first served as Minister of Finance and Industry and later
as Minister of Defence.
9
SHANKAR DAYAL
SHARMA
25 JULY 1992
–
25 JULY 1997
KOCHERIL RAMAN
NARAYANAN
1. He won 10th presidential elections of Indiaon 24 July
1992 over his nearest rival G.G. Swell.
2. Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the
Indian Minister for Communications. He has also served
as the governor of Andhra
Pradesh, Punjab andMaharashtra.

4. 10
KOCHERIL RAMAN
NARAYANAN
25 JULY 1997
–
25 JULY 2002
KRISHAN KANT
1. He won the 11th
Presidential Elections 17 July 1997 over
his nearest rival T.N. Sheshan.
2. Narayanan served as India's ambassador to Thailand,
Turkey, China and United States of America. He
received doctorates in Science and Law and was also a
chancellor in several universities. He was also the vice-
chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University
11
A.P.J. ABDUL
KALAM
25 JULY 2002
–
25 JULY 2007
BHAIRON SINGH
SHEKHAWAT
1. He won the 12th
Presidential Elections on 15 July 2002
over his Nearest rival Lakshmi Sehgal.
2. Kalam, is a scientist who played a leading role in the
development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear
weapons programs. He also received the Bharat Ratna.
Kalam was affectionately known as the People's
President.
12
PRATIBHA PATIL
25 JULY 2007
–
25 JULY 2012
MOHAMMAD
HAMID ANSARI
1. She won the 13th
Presidential Elections of India on 19
July 2007 over his nearest rival Bhairon singh
shekhawat.
2. Patil is the first woman to become the President of India.
3. She was also the first female Governor of Rajasthan.
13
PRANAB
MUKHERJEE
25 JULY 2012
– TILL DATE
(INCUMBENT)
MOHAMMAD
HAMID ANSARI
1. He won the 14th
Presidential elections of India on 19
July 2012 defeating his nearest rival , former Speaker of
the Lok Sabha,P. A. Sangma from Meghalaya.
14
15

5. 16
17
18
19
20
21