List of presidents of India facts for kids

• Top left: Rajendra Prasad was India's first president.
• Top right: Zakir Husain was the first president from a minority religion.
• Bottom left: Pratibha Patil was India's first female president.
• Bottom right: Droupadi Murmu is the youngest president and the first from a tribal community.

The president of India is like the main leader of the Republic of India. They are also the top boss of the Indian Armed Forces, which includes the army, navy, and air force. People often call the president the "first citizen of India." Even though the Constitution gives the president many powers, their role is mostly ceremonial. This means they perform important duties but the real day-to-day decisions are made by the prime minister.

The president is chosen by a special group called the Electoral College. This group includes elected members from both houses of the Indian Parliament: the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. It also includes members from the state legislative assemblies, known as the Saasana Sabha or Vidhan Sabha. A president serves for five years, as stated in the Indian Constitution. If a president's term ends early or they are away, the vice president takes over.

India has had 15 presidents since the country became a republic in 1950. Besides these 15, three people have also served as acting presidents for short times. For example, V. V. Giri became acting president in 1969 after Zakir Husain passed away while in office. Giri was then elected president a few months later. He is the only person to have been both an acting president and a full president. Rajendra Prasad, India's first president, is the only one who served for two full terms.

Seven presidents were part of a political party before they were elected. Six of them were from the Indian National Congress party. One president, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, was from the Janata Party. Two presidents, Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, passed away while they were in office. When this happened, their vice presidents became acting presidents until a new president was elected. Pratibha Patil made history in 2007 by becoming the first woman president of India.

On July 25, 2022, Droupadi Murmu became the current president of India. She is the second woman to hold this important position. She is also the first president from a tribal community, which is a big step for India.

India's Presidents: A List

This list shows the presidents who were elected after winning an election. People who served as acting presidents, like V. V. Giri, Mohammad Hidayatullah, and B. D. Jatti, are not numbered in this main list. The President of India is meant to be neutral and not represent any political party.

Here's a guide to the colors used in the table:

Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Home State	Previous Job(s)	Time in Office			Oath Given by (Chief Justice of India)	Election Year	Election Map	Vice-President	Political Party
				Started Office	Left Office	Total Time
	Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963)	Bihar	Minister of Agriculture	26 January 1950	13 May 1952	12 years, 107 days	H. J. Kania	1950	-	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	Indian National Congress
				13 May 1952	13 May 1957		M. Patanjali Sastri	1952
				13 May 1957	13 May 1962		Sudhi Ranjan Das	1957
	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)	Tamil Nadu	Vice President of India	13 May 1962	13 May 1967	5 years, 0 days	Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha	1962		Zakir Hussain	Independent
	Zakir Husain (1897–1969)	Andhra Pradesh	Vice President of India Governor of Bihar	13 May 1967	3 May 1969	1 year, 355 days	Kailas Nath Wanchoo	1967		V. V. Giri
	V. V. Giri (1894–1980)	Odisha	Vice President of India	3 May 1969	20 July 1969	78 days		–	–
	Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992)	Chhattisgarh	Chief Justice of India	20 July 1969	24 August 1969	35 days		–	–
	V. V. Giri (1894–1980)	Odisha	Vice President of India Governor of Kerala	24 August 1969	24 August 1974	5 years, 0 days	Mohammad Hidayatullah	1969		Vacant (1969), G. S. Pathak (1969- 1974)
	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977)	National Capital Territory of Delhi	Minister of Agriculture	24 August 1974	11 February 1977	2 years, 171 days	A. N. Ray	1974		G. S. Pathak (1974), BD Jatti (1974- 1977)	Indian National Congress
	B. D. Jatti (1912–2002)	Karnataka	Chief Minister of Karnataka	11 February 1977	25 July 1977	164 days		–	–
	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913–1996)	Andhra Pradesh	Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh	25 July 1977	25 July 1982	5 years, 0 days	Mirza Hameedullah Beg	1977		B. D. Jatti (1977- 1979), M. Hidaytullah (1979- 1982)	Janata Party
	Zail Singh (1916–1994)	Punjab	Chief Minister of Punjab	25 July 1982	25 July 1987	5 years, 0 days	Y. V. Chandrachud	1982		M. Hidaytullah (1982- 1984) R. Venkarataman (1984- 1987)	Indian National Congress
	Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910–2009)	Tamil Nadu	Vice President of India Minister of Defence	25 July 1987	25 July 1992	5 years, 0 days	Raghunandan Swarup Pathak	1987		Vacant (1987) SD Sharma (1987- 1992)
	Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918–1999)	Madhya Pradesh	Vice President of India Governor of Maharashtra	25 July 1992	25 July 1997	5 years, 0 days	M. H. Kania	1992		Vacant (1992), KR Narayanan (1992- 1997)
	K. R. Narayanan (1920–2005)	Kerala	Vice President of India	25 July 1997	25 July 2002	5 years, 0 days	J. S. Verma	1997		Vacant (1997), Krishan Kant (1997- 2002)
	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015)	Tamil Nadu	Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of India	25 July 2002	25 July 2007	5 years, 0 days	Bhupinder Nath Kirpal	2002		Krishan Kant (2002) , Vacant (2002), BS Shekhawat (2002- 2007), Vacant (2007)	Independent
	Pratibha Patil (born 1934)	Maharashtra	Governor of Rajasthan	25 July 2007	25 July 2012	5 years, 0 days	K. G. Balakrishnan	2007		Vacant (2007), MH Ansari (2007- 2012)	Indian National Congress
	Pranab Mukherjee (1935–2020)	West Bengal	Minister of Defence Minister of Finance Minister of External Affairs	25 July 2012	25 July 2017	5 years, 0 days	S. H. Kapadia	2012		MH Ansari (2012- 2017)
	Ram Nath Kovind (born 1945)	Uttar Pradesh	Governor of Bihar	25 July 2017	25 July 2022	5 years, 0 days	Jagdish Singh Khehar	2017		MH Ansari (2017), Venkaiah Naidu (2017- 2022)	Bharatiya Janata Party
	Droupadi Murmu (born 1958)	Odisha	Governor of Jharkhand	25 July 2022	Incumbent	3 years, 6 days	N. V. Ramana	2022		Venkaiah Naidu (2022), Jagdeep Dhankar (2022- 2025), Vacant (2025- Present)

Presidential Facts and Figures

This section shares some interesting facts about India's presidents.

Timeline of Presidents

This timeline shows when each president served.

More About India's Leaders

• President of India
• Vice President of India
• Prime Minister of India
• List of vice presidents of India
• List of prime ministers of India

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Presidentes de la India para niños