A Simple Note on List of Presidents of India since 1950s

India as a nation

According to its Constitution, India runs a parliamentary system of government, where, at the federal level, there is a council of ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to advise the President.

The President is the Constitutional and nominal head of the country but takes advice from the Prime Minister. All executive actions, however, are also taken on the name of the President.

Similarly, at the state level in India, there is a council of ministers with the Chief Minister as its head who advises the governors.

In India’s form of government, the President is the Head of State, and the Prime Minister, the chief Executive of the executive branch. 

India as a country is politically divided into 29 states and 7 territories. Its government, just like most others, has 3 arms, the legislative, the judicial and the executive arms.

Although according to India’s reviewed Constitution, a person can be re-elected as president for the second time, only Dr Rajendra Prasad, who was the first president of India, has served two terms as the President of India, so far.

List of all Presidents of India since 1950

Since officially gaining independence in August 15,1947, India has witnessed the leadership of a number of presidents, starting from Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who was the first President of India to Shri Ram Nath Kovind, who is the current President of India.

The nation of India has had 17 presidents since independence, 16 men and 1 woman (Pratibha Patil). Of the 16 male presidents that India has had, 2 (Varahagiri Venkata Giri and Mohammad Hidayatullah) served as acting presidents following the death of the current presidents at that time, and 1 (Basappa Danappa Jatti) was a chief minister but became acting President, following the sudden death of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Here’s a list of all the presidents of India since 1950 till date (in their order of appearance as the President of India)

1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad—January 26th, 1950 to May 13th, 1962.

2. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan—May 13th, 1962 to May 13th, 1967.

3. Dr Zakir Hussain—May 13th, 1967 to May 3rd, 1969.

4. Varahagiri Venkata Giri (Acting President)—May 3rd, 1969 to July 20th, 1969.

5. Mohammad Hidayatullah (Acting President)—July 20th, 1969 to August 24th, 1969.

6. Varahagiri Venkata Giri—August 24th, 1969 to August 24th, 1974.

7. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed—August 24th, 1974 to February 11th, 1977.

8. Basappa Danappa Jatti (Acting President)—February 11th, 1977 to July 25th, 1977.

9. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy—July 25th, 1977 to July 25th, 1982.

10. Giani Zail Singh—July 25th, 1982 to July 25th, 1987.

11. Ramaswamy Venkataraman—July 25th, 1987 to July 25th, 1992.

12. Shankar Dayal Sharma—July 25th, 1992 to July 25th, 1997.

13. Kocheril Raman Narayanan—July 25th, 1997 to July 25th, 2002.

14. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam—July 25th, 2002 to July 25th, 2007.

15. Pratibha Patil—July 25th, 2007 to July 25th, 2012 (She was the first woman to be President).

16. Pranab Mukherjee—July 25th, 2012 to July 25th, 2017

17. Shri Ram Nath Kovind—July 25th, 2017 till present.

The First President of India—Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, born on 3rd December, 1884 is the first president India had as a nation and was, as well, the longest serving Indian president.

After his first tenure, he was re-elected in 1957 for a second tenure and thus became the only Indian president to serve two terms in office.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was a politician in his living days and also a freedom fighter and an activist who gave a huge contribution to the Indian Nationalist Movement. He was among the people who dedicated their lifetime to seeing India become independent as a nation and also to see India grow and prosper as an independent nation.

He reigned as the president of India from 26th January, 1950 to 13th May, 1962. He died on 28th February, 1963.

Being her first president, India holds him in high esteem, despite being dead. He was one of India’s great leaders.

The Current President of India—Shri Ram Nath Kovind

Shri Ram Nath Kovind, born on 1st October, 1945 is the current president of India, having been in power for the past 5 years now (July 25th, 2017 till present).

Shri Ram Nath Kovind started off as the governor of the state of Bihar in 2015.

Following his rulership as the governor of Bihar, Shri Ram Nath Kovind was successfully elected as the president of India in 2017.

Conclusion

India officially became an independent Nation on the 15th of August, 1947. Since this time, India has had 14 presidents (+3 Acting Presidents).

Of all the presidents India has had, only one has served two terms in office, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. He was also the first president of India and likewise, the longest serving Indian president.

The great country of India has also had only 1 female president, Pratibha Patil (July 25th, 2007 to July 25th, 2012).

India runs a parliamentary system of Government, where the president is given advice by the Prime Minister, who is the chief executive of the executive arm of government.

Likewise, at the state level, there exists a council of ministers, with the Chief minister at its head, while the governors of the provinces take advice from him.