Presidents And Vice-Presidents Of India

President of India 

The President of India is referred to as the first citizen of India. The Indian President is elected by an electoral college composed of the elected members of the Parliament, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and Vidhan Sabha. There have been 14 personalities who served as Indian Presidents since the adoption of the Indian Constitution in 1950 and there have been tenures when the country was headed by an acting President.

List of all Presidents of India (1952 - 2022)

1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad  (Tenure - 13 May 1952 – 13 May 1957 / 13 May 1957 - 13 May 1962) 
Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India. 
He was born on 3 December 1884 and  was an Indian independence activist, Lawyer, Scholar.  the first President of India. He was also elected as the President of the Constituent Assembly of India, which prepared the Constitution of India. The Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapti bhawan were open to public for about a month for the first time during his tenure.  He was elected twice as the president.

2. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan  (Tenure- 13 May 1962 – 13 May 1967)
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the first Vice-President and the second President of India.
He was born on 5 September 1888. Dr. S Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher and writer. He also held the position of vice-chancellor of the Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. In 1954, He was awarded with the highest honor Bharat Ratna by Indian government. His birthday is celebrated as Teacher's Day in India.

3. Zakir Hussain (Tenure- 13 May 1967 – 3 May 1969)
Zakir Hussain was the second Vice-President and Third President of India. He previously served as the Governer of Bihar from 1957 to 1962. He was the recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. He was the shortest-serving president and the first Indian president who passed away in office.

4. Varahagiri Venkata Giri  (Tenure - 3 May 1969 – 20 July 1969 / 24 August 1969 – 24 August 1974)
 V.V. Giri was an Indian politician and Activist who served as the 4th President of India. He was elected as the third Vice President of India in 1967. He served as the president for a short term due to the sudden death of Zakir Hussain in office. He was honored with the Bharat Ratna by the Indian government in 1975. 

5. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed  (Tenure - 24 August 1974 – 11 February 1977)
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the 5th President of India. He was the president during the Emergency. He was the second Muslim President of India and also the second president who died in office.

6. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy  (Tenure - 25 July 1977 – 25 July 1982)
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was an Indian Politician who served as the Sixth President of India. He was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He became the youngest President who occupied Rashtrapati Bhavan and contested twice for the post of president.

7. Zail Singh (Tenure -  25 July 1982 – 25 July 1987)
 Zail Singh was the Seventh President of India. He was the Chief Minister of Punjab and the Union Home Minister and also the first Sikh to hold the office. He also served as the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1983 to 1986.


8. Ramaswamy Venkataraman (Tenure - 25 July 1987 – 25 July 1992) 
Ramaswami Venkataraman was the Eighth President of our Country and  In 1984, he was elected as the seventh Vice-President of India.  He was born on  4 December 1910. He was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist, and politician who served as a Union Minister. He was appointed as a member of the Constituent Assembly and the provisional cabinet. He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and served as Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister.    
He is a receiver of “Tamra Patra” for his contributions to India’s freedom struggle.

9.  Shankar Dayal Sharma (Tenure - 25 July 1992 – 25 July 1997)
Shankar Dayal Sharma was the Ninth President of India. Prior to his presidency, Sharma had been the eighth Vice-President of India serving under R.Venkataraman. He was also the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. He was the President of the Indian National Congress in 1972–1974 and returned to the Government as Union Minister for Communications from 1974 to 1977.     

10.  Kocheril Raman Narayanan  (Tenure - 25 July 1997 – 25 July 2002) 
Kocheril Raman Narayanan was the Tenth President and Nineth Vice-President of India. He was an Indian statesman, Diplomat, Academician, and Politician. He served as India’s ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China, and the United States of America. He was the first person from the Dalit community to hold either post.

11. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam  ( Tenure - 25 July 2002 – 25 July 2007)
A.P.J Abdul Kalam was an Indian aerospace scientist who served as the 11th President from 2002 to 2007. He played a leading role in the development of India’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. He was also awarded Bharat Ratna.

12.  Pratibha Devisingh Patil (Tenure - 25 July 2007 – 25 July 2012)
Pratibha Patil is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th President of India. She was the first and, to date, only woman president of India.

13. Pranab Kumar Mukherjee (Tenure -  25 July 2012 – 25 July 2017) 
Pranab Kumar Mukherjee was the 13th President of India. He was awarded the best Parliamentary Award in 1997. He also received Padma Vibhushan in 2008.

14. Ram Nath Kovind  (Tenure - 25 July 2017 – Incumbent)
Ram Nath Kovind was the 14th president of India. He is also the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as President of India. He also served as the Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017. 

List of Vice-Presidents of India

Vice-President of India is the second most important authoritative body after the President. As per Article 65 of the Indian Constitution, he is entitled to take important decisions in certain cases of contingency due to resignation, removal, death, impeachment or the inability of the president to discharge his/her functions. 

When a bill is introduced in the Rajya Sabha, the vice president decides whether it is a money bill or not. If he is of the opinion that a bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha is a money bill, he shall refer it to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

The necessary qualifications required for this post are listed below:

1. Citizen of India who has completed the age of 35 years.
2. He should not hold any office of profit under union government, state government, public authority and local authority.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the first Vice-President of India. He took oath at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 13 May 1952.
Venkaiah Naidu is the current Vice President of India. He defeated opposing candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi on 5 August 2017.

 

S.No	Vice - Presidents of India	Term of Office
1.	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (First Vice-President of India)	13 May 1952 – 12 May 1957 13 May 1957 – 12 May 1962
2.	Zakir Hussain	13 May 1962 – 12 May 1967
3.	V. V. Giri	13 May 1967 – 3 May 1969
4.	Gopal Swarup Pathak	31 August 1969 – 30 August 1974
5.	B. D. Jatti	31 August 1974 – 30 August 1979
6.	Mohammad Hidayatullah	31 August 1979 – 30 August 1984
7.	R. Venkataraman	31 August 1984 – 24 July 1987
8.	Shankar Dayal Sharma	3 September 1987 – 24 July 1992
9.	K. R. Narayanan	21 August 1992 – 24 July 1997
10.	Krishan Kant	21 August 1997 – 27 July 2002
11.	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat	19 August 2002 – 21 July 2007
12.	Mohammad Hamid Ansari	11 August 2007 – 11 August 2012 11 August 2012 – 11 August 2017
13.	Venkaiah Naidu	11 August 2017 – Incumbent