The President is the Head of the Indian state. He is the First citizen of India and acts as the symbol of unity, integrity, and solidarity of the nation. He is also the Commander-in-Chief (Supreme Commander) of the Indian Armed Forces. Article 53 of the Indian Constitution states that all the Executive powers of the Union shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers, subordinate to him. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the First President of India and the Longest-serving President. 14th Indian President– Ram Nath Kovind is the present President of India.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad
- Serving Period: 26 Jan 1950 to 13 May 1962.
- Tenure: 12 years, 107 Days.
- Party: Indian National Congress.
- First President of India, worked as President for two terms
- He was also the President of the Constituent Assembly and a prominent Leader of the Indian Independence Movement.
- He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1962.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
- Serving Period: 13 May 1962 to 13 May 1967.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Independent.
- He was the First Vice-President of India.
- Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5th September 1888, and this day is celebrated as Teacher’s Day.
- He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1954.
Dr. Zakir Husain
- Serving Period: 13 May 1967 to 3 May 1969.
- Tenure: 1 year, 355 days.
- Party: Independent.
- First Muslim President of India and died at his post.
- After that, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mohammad Hidayatullah became acting President from 20 July 1969 to 24 August 1969.
Varahagiri Venkata Giri
- Serving Period: 3 May 1969 to 20 Jul 1969 & 24 Aug 1969 – 24 Aug 1974.
- Tenure: 78 days; 5 years.
- Party: Independent candidate.
- V. V. Giri was the First person to serve as both an Acting President and President.
- He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1975.
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
- Serving Period: 24 Aug 1969 to 11 Feb 1977.
- Tenure: 2 year, 171 days.
- Party: Indian National Congress.
- He was the Second President who died in the post of the President.
- BD Jatti was made Acting President after Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed’s death who served in the time of Emergency.
Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
- Serving Period: 25 Jul 1977 to 25 Jul 1982.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Janata Party.
- He was the First person to be elected to the post of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from Janata party.
- He was directly elected to the post of Lok Sabha Speaker and became the Youngest President who occupied Rashtrapati Bhavan and contested twice for the post of the President.
Giani Zail Singh
- Serving Period: 25 Jul 1982 to 25 Jul 1987.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Indian National Congress.
- First and only Sikh President of India.
- He was also the Chief Minister of Punjab and the Union Home Minister.
- Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, etc. took place during his reign.
R. Venkataraman
- Serving Period: 25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Indian National Congress.
- Earlier he was Vice-President of India from 1984 to 1987.
- In 1942, Venkataraman was imprisoned by the British for his involvement in the Indian independence movement.
- He has received many honours from different parts of the world including the “Tamra Patra” for his contributions to India’s Freedom Struggle.
Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma
- Serving Period: 25 July 1992 to 25 July 1997.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Indian National Congress.
- The International Bar Association gave him the “Living Legend of Law Award of Recognition” due to multi-achievements in the Legal profession.
- He also served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab & Maharashtra; Chief Minister of Bhopal.
Kocheril Raman Narayanan
- Serving Period: July 1997 to July 2002.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Independent.
- He served as India’s Ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and the USA.
- 1st Dalit President of India.
- He was the First Malayali person to receive the highest office of the country.
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
- Serving Period: 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Independent.
- Kalam sahib was an Engineer who played a leading role in the development of India’s Ballistic missile & Nuclear weapons programs; known as “Missile Man of India”.
- Rohini-1 satellites, Agni and Prithvi missiles were successfully launched under his tenure.
- He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997.
Shrimati Pratibha Singh Patil
- Serving Period: 25 July 2007 to 25 July 2012.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Indian National Congress.
- First Woman to become the President of India and the First Female Governor of Rajasthan.
- She is also the First Woman President to fly Sukhoi Su-30 fighter aircraft.
Pranab Mukherjee
- Serving Period: 25 July 2012 to 25 July 2017.
- Tenure: 5 years.
- Party: Indian National Congress.
- He held various posts in Cabinet for the Govt. of India, such as the Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, Finance Minister & Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
- Best Parliamentarian Award in 1997; Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour in 2008; Bharat Ratna in 2019.
Ram Nath Kovind
- Serving Period: 25 July 2017 to Present.
- Tenure: Acting.
- Party: Bharatiya Janata Party.
- He is the Second Dalit President and the first President from Bharatiya Janata Party.
- He was Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017.
Some important facts:
Summary
- There have been 14 Presidents of India since the post was established when India was declared as a Republic.
- The President of India is the head of state of the Republic of India.
- The President resides in an estate known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the First President of India and Ram Nath Kovind is the 14th and current President of India.
