List of presidents of India facts for kids

The president of India is like the main leader of the country, the head of state of India. They are also the top commander of the Indian Armed Forces, which means they are in charge of 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, the prime minister usually handles the day-to-day running of the country. So, the president's role is mostly about representing India and its values.

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), and also members from the state assemblies (called Saasana Sabha or Vidhan Sabha). A president stays in office for five years. If a president's term ends early, or if they are away, the vice president steps in.

India has had 15 presidents since it became a republic in 1950, when the Indian constitution was adopted. Besides these 15, three people have also served as acting presidents for short times. V. V. Giri became an acting president in 1969 after Zakir Husain passed away while in office. Giri was later elected president. 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 terms.

Many presidents were part of a political party before they were elected. Six of them were active members of the Indian National Congress party. One president, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, was from the Janata Party. Sadly, two presidents, Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, died while they were in office. Their vice presidents then became acting presidents until a new president could be elected. Pratibha Patil, who was elected in 2007, was the first woman to become president.

On 25 July 2022, Droupadi Murmu became the 15th president of India. She is the second woman to hold this important position and the first president from a tribal community.

• Top left: Rajendra Prasad was the first and longest-serving President of India.
• Top right: Zakir Husain was the first from a minority religion to become President of India.
• Bottom left: Pratibha Patil was the first female President of India.
• Bottom right: Droupadi Murmu is the youngest President and the first President from a tribal community.

Who are the Presidents of India?

This section lists the presidents who were elected after winning an Indian presidential election. People who served as acting presidents, like V. V. Giri, Mohammad Hidayatullah, and B. D. Jatti, are not numbered in this list because they were not formally elected to the full term. The president of India is not supposed to represent any political party.

No.	Picture	Name (Born–Died)	Home State	Previous Job(s)	Time in Office			Vice President	Political Party
					Started Office	Left Office	How Long
Interim		Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963)	Bihar	Minister of Agriculture	26 January 1950	13 May 1952	12 years, 107 days	–	Indian National Congress
1					13 May 1952	13 May 1957		Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
					13 May 1957	13 May 1962
2		Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)	Tamil Nadu	Vice President of India	13 May 1962	13 May 1967	5 years	Zakir Husain	Independent
3		Zakir Husain (1897–1969)	Andhra Pradesh	Vice President of India Governor of Bihar	13 May 1967	3 May 1969	1 year, 355 days	V. V. Giri
Acting		V. V. Giri (1894–1980)	Odisha	Vice President of India	3 May 1969	20 July 1969	78 days	–
Acting		Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992)	Chhattisgarh	Chief Justice of India	20 July 1969	24 August 1969	35 days	–
4		V. V. Giri (1894–1980)	Odisha	Vice President of India Governor of Kerala	24 August 1969	24 August 1974	5 years	Gopal Swarup Pathak
5		Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977)	National Capital Territory of Delhi	Minister of Agriculture	24 August 1974	11 February 1977	2 years, 171 days	Gopal Swarup Pathak B. D. Jatti	Indian National Congress
Acting		B. D. Jatti (1912–2002)	Karnataka	Chief Minister of Karnataka	11 February 1977	25 July 1977	164 days	–
6		Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913–1996)	Andhra Pradesh	Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh	25 July 1977	25 July 1982	5 years	B. D. Jatti Mohammad Hidayatullah	Janata Party
7		Zail Singh (1916–1994)	Punjab	Chief Minister of Punjab	25 July 1982	25 July 1987	5 years	Mohammad Hidayatullah Ramaswamy Venkataraman	Indian National Congress
8		Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910–2009)	Tamil Nadu	Vice President of India Minister of Defence	25 July 1987	25 July 1992	5 years	Shankar Dayal Sharma
9		Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918–1999)	Madhya Pradesh	Vice President of India Governor of Maharashtra	25 July 1992	25 July 1997	5 years	K. R. Narayanan
10		K. R. Narayanan (1920–2005)	Kerala	Vice President of India	25 July 1997	25 July 2002	5 years	Krishan Kant
11		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	Krishan Kant Bhairon Singh Shekhawat	Independent
12		Pratibha Patil (born 1934)	Maharashtra	Governor of Rajasthan	25 July 2007	25 July 2012	5 years	M. Hamid Ansari	Indian National Congress
13		Pranab Mukherjee (1935–2020)	West Bengal	Minister of Defence Minister of Finance Minister of External Affairs	25 July 2012	25 July 2017	5 years
14		Ram Nath Kovind (born 1945)	Uttar Pradesh	Governor of Bihar	25 July 2017	25 July 2022	5 years	M. Hamid Ansari M. Venkaiah Naidu	Bharatiya Janata Party
15		Droupadi Murmu (born 1958)	Odisha	Governor of Jharkhand	25 July 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 355 days	M. Venkaiah Naidu Jagdeep Dhankhar

Presidential Statistics

This section shows some interesting facts about the presidents of India.

Timeline of Presidents

More to Explore

In Spanish: Anexo:Presidentes de la India para niños

• President of India
• Vice President of India
• Prime Minister of India
• List of vice presidents of India
• List of prime ministers of India
• List of heads of state and government of Indian origin