List of all Presidents of India , from 1950 to 2024

List of all Presidents of India , from 1950 to 2024; check complete list

List of all Presidents of India ,The President is the head of state in India. He is considered the first citizen of the country. It is the highest constitutional post in the country. Article 52 of the Indian Constitution states that there shall be a President of India, and according to Article 53, all executive powers of the Union shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him. The Electoral College elects the President of India.

The President is elected by the elected representatives of the Parliament and the State Legislatures. The electoral college elects the President of India, and the representation of its members is proportional. Their vote is single transferable, and their second choice is also counted. The tenure of the President is 5 years, and no law can be implemented in India without the signature of the President. Here is the list of all presidents of India.

List of all Presidents of India, tenure and their political journey

1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India and served as President for two terms. He was also the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly and a prominent leader of the Indian Independence Movement. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1962.

2. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888, and this day is celebrated as Teachers’ Day. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954.

3. Dr. Zakir Hussain

Dr. Zakir Hussain became the first Muslim President of India and died in office. The immediate vice president, V.V. Giri, was made the acting president. Then Supreme Court Chief Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah became the Acting President from 20 July 1969 to 24 August 1969.

4. V.V. Giri

V V Giri was the fourth President of India. His full name was Varahagiri Venkata Giri. He became the only person to be elected president as an independent candidate. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1975.

5. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of India. He was the second president who died in the post of president. BD Jatha was made the acting president.

6. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy became the sixth President of India. He was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He was directly elected to the post of Speaker of Lok Sabha and became the youngest President to contest twice for the post of President and to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan.

7. Giani Zail Singh

Before becoming the President, he was also the Chief Minister of Punjab and a minister at the Centre. He also used the pocket veto on the Indian Post Office Bill. During his presidency, several incidents like Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots took place.

8. R. Venkatraman

R. Venkataraman was elected as the President of India from 25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992. Prior to this, he was the Vice President of India from 1984 to 1987. He has received many honors from different parts of the world. He is a recipient of the “Tamra Patra” for his contribution to India’s freedom struggle. Also, the Russian government awarded him the Soviet Land Award for writing a travelogue on former Tamil Nadu Prime Minister Kumaraswamy Kamaraj.

9. Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma

Before becoming president, he was the eighth Vice President of India. He was the Chief Minister of Bhopal from 1952 to 1956 and a Cabinet Minister from 1956 to 1967. The International Bar Association gave him the ‘Living Legend of Law Award of Recognition’ due to his multiple achievements in the legal profession.

10. K R Narayanan

K. R. Narayanan was the first Dalit President of India and the first Malayali to hold the country’s highest office. He was the first president to vote in a Lok Sabha election and address the state assembly.

11. Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam

Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam came to be known as the ‘Missile Man of India’. He was the first scientist to hold the office of president and the first President of India to win the most votes. The Rohini-1 satellites, Agni, and Prithvi missiles were successfully launched under his direction. The Pokhran-II nuclear tests conducted in India in 1998 after the original nuclear tests of 1974 saw him in a key political, organizational, and technical role. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997.

12. Mrs. Pratibha Singh Patil

Before becoming president, she was the governor of Rajasthan. From 1962 to 1985, she was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly five times and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Amravati in 1991. Not only this, she was also the first woman president to fly a Sukhoi.

13. Pranab Mukherjee

Pranab Mukherjee was the Finance Minister in the Central Government before contesting the presidential election. He was awarded the Best Parliamentarian Award in 1997 and India’s second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2008. He died on August 31, 2020 (Monday) at the age of 84.

14. Ram Nath Kovind

Ram Nath Kovind was born on 1 October 1945 in Uttar Pradesh, India. He is an Indian lawyer and politician. He was the 14th and current President of India. He became president on July 25, 2017 and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the former governor of Bihar. His approach to political problems earned him praise across the political spectrum. His achievements as governor were the creation of a judicial commission to investigate corruption in universities.

15. Draupadi Murmu

Draupadi Murmu became the 15th President of India on July 21, 2022. Draupadi Murmu was born on June 20, 1958, in a Santali tribal family in Uparbeda village of Mayurbhanj district of Odisha to Biranchi Narayan Tudu.

She is the former governor of Jharkhand. In 2007, Draupadi Murmu received the Neelkanth Award for the best MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) by the Odisha Legislative Assembly.

ALSO READ: List of all prime ministers of India, 1947 to 2024