President And Vice President of India

S. No.

President Name

Took office

Left office

Vice President

Notes

1

Rajendra Prasad

26-Jan-50

12-May-62

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

1952 election & 1957 election

(1884–1963)

Prasad, from Bihar, was the first President of independent India. He was also a freedom fighter during the Indian independence movement. Prasad was the only president to serve two terms in office.

2

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

13-May-62

13-May-67

Zakir Hussain

1962 election

(1888–1975)

Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher, writer, a Knight of the Realm and also held the position of vice chancellor of the Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. He was also made a Knight of the Golden Army of Angels by Pope Paul VI. He received Bharat Ratna award in 1954 before becoming the President.

3

Zakir Hussain

13-May-67

3-May-69

Varahagiri Venkata Giri

1967 election

(1897–1969)

Hussain was vice chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. He died in office.

3

Varahagiri Venkata Giri *

3-May-69

20-Jul-69

Giri was appointed as Acting President of India following the death of Hussain.

He resigned in a few months to take part in the presidential elections.

(1894–1980)

3

Mohammad Hidayatullah *

20-Jul-69

24-Aug-69

Hidayatullah served as the Chief Justice of India, and was a recipient of the Order of the British Empire. He served as Acting President of India until the election of Giri as the President of India.

4

Varahagiri Venkata Giri

24-Aug-69

24-Aug-74

Gopal Swarup Pathak

1969 election

(1894–1980)

Giri is the only person to have served as both an acting president and president of India. He was a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and has functioned as Indian Minister of Labour and High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

5

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

24-Aug-74

11-Feb-77

Basappa Danappa Jatti

1974 election

(1905–1977)

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed served as a Minister before being elected as president. He died in 1977 before his term of office ended, and was the second Indian president to die in office.

5

Basappa Danappa Jatti *

11-Feb-77

25-Jul-77

Jatti was the vice president of India during Ahmed's term of office, and was sworn in as Acting President of India upon Ahmed's death. He earlier functioned as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore.

(1912–2002)

6

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

25-Jul-77

25-Jul-82

Muhammad Hidayatullah

1977 election

(1913–1996)

N.S.Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State. Reddy was the only Member of Parliament from the Janata Party to get elected from Andhra Pradesh. He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 26 March 1977 and relinquished this office on 13 July 1977 to become the 6th President of India.

7

Giani Zail Singh

25-Jul-82

25-Jul-87

Ramaswamy Venkataraman

1982 election

(1916–1994)

In March 1972, Singh assumed the position of chief Minister of Punjab, and in 1980, he became Union Home Minister.

8

Ramaswamy Venkataraman

25-Jul-87

25-Jul-92

Shankar Dayal Sharma

1987 election

(1910–2009)

In 1942, Venkataraman was jailed by the British for his involvement in the Indian independence movement.After his release, 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-Jul-92

25-Jul-97

Kocheril Raman Narayanan

1992 election

(1918–1999)

Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Minister for Communications. He has also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra.

10

Kocheril Raman Narayanan

25-Jul-97

25-Jul-02

Krishan Kant

1997 election

(1920–2005)

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-Jul-02

25-Jul-07

Krishan Kant

2002 election

(b. 1931)

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.

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

12

Pratibha Patil

25-Jul-07

25-Jul-12

Mohammad Hamid Ansari

2007 election

(b. 1934)

Patil is the first woman to become the President of India. She was also the first female Governor of Rajasthan.

13

Pranab Mukherjee

25-Jul-12

Incumbent

Mohammad Hamid Ansari

2012 election

(b. 1935)

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.