Presidents of India (1947-2017) – Facts & Achievements

Presidents of India (1947-2017) – Facts, Salary, Achievements

• In 1947, India gained its independence from years of British rule.
• The Constitution of India was adopted on January 26, 1950, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first constitutional head of the state, the President of India. Since 1950, India has had its 14 full-time Presidents.
• The President of the Republic of India is the head of the state of India and the first citizen.
• There have been 14 presidents of India since the post was established when India was declared as a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950.
• He is the Commander in chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
• Though the President has such great powers, his role is ceremonial. Actually all the decisions are taken by the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

Presidents of India & Indian Presidential Elections

• The President of India is known as the First Citizen of India.
• He is the head of the executive, legislature, and judiciary of India.
• Election: A president is elected by the members of an Electoral College on the basis of a single transferable vote system.
• The Electoral College made of parliament houses members, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha members and state legislative assemblies elect the president of the India.
• Term: According to Article 56, once elected a president holds his/her office for 5 years. Since the President Post establishment in 1950 we have seen 14 Presidents and 3 Acting Presidents.
• In the case where a president’s term of office is terminated early or during the absence of the president, the vice president assumes office. By article 70 of part V, the parliament may decide how to discharge the functions of the president where this is not possible, or in any other unexpected contingency.
• Removal: Article 61 says that President can be removed from the post for violation of the constitution before the expiry of his term by the impeachment. This impeachment can be moved in either house of parliament.

Some Important Facts about President of India

• Indian President is also known as Rashtrapati. He is the first citizen of India as well.
• Current Salary of Indian President (2017) – Rs. 500,000
• President of India is appointed by the electoral college of India for the term of five years.
• Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of the Indian President. It is 340-rooms building located in Delhi (Rajpath) on 320-acre area.

List of all Presidents of India from 1950 to 2017

Below is the list of all the Indian Presidents (the first citizen of India) – names of Indian Presidents, their pictures and tenures at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Important Facts for Exams

Dr.Rajendra Prasad

• • • He was the first President of India.
    • Also, he is the longest serving President of India.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

• • • He served as First Vice President of India.
    • Moreover, before his Political Career, he was a professor of Philosophy in notable colleges and served as Vice Chancellor of Universities like Andhra University & Banaras Hindu University.
    • Furthermore, his birthday, 5th September, is celebrated as Teacher’s day in India.

Zakir Hussain

• • • Firstly, he was the first Muslim President of India.
    • Also, he co-founded the Jamia Milia Islamia University.
    • He died during his office tenure and became the shortest serving President.

Varahagiri Venkata Giri

• • • He became Acting President in 1969 due to death of then President Zakir Hussein.
    • Later, he resigned from both the posts, Vice President & Acting President as he was a candidate for next presidential Elections.
    • As a result, Mohammad Hidayatullah acted as President for a month.
    • V. Giri is known as the Rubber Stamp President of India.

Kocheril Raman Narayanan

• • • He was the first Dalit President of India.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

• • • He was known as the Missile Man of India as he helped in the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicles.
    • He was known as People’s President.

Smt. Pratibha Patil

• • • She is the first women president of India.

Pranab Mukherji

• • • He served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017.
    • Prior to his election as President, he was Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012.

Ram Nath Kovind

• • • He’s the 2nd Dalit President of India. The first being K.R. Narayanan.
    • He also served as the Central Government advocate in the Delhi High Court.
    • He also served as the BJP’s national spokesperson.

Some Interesting Facts about Presidents of India

• Rashtrapati Bhavan which is the Official Residence of President of India was earlier called Viceroy’s House. This was built under Charles Hardinge who was the then Viceroy of India. This Viceroy’s House was renamed as Rashtrapati Bhavan when Rajendra Prasad became the first President and occupied this building.
• V V Giri became first Acting President of India in 1969 after the death of Zakir Hussain in office.
• V V Giri was elected full feldged President just after few months. He was the only person who worked as Acting President and President.
• There were 2 Presidents who died during their incumbency period ie on Chair. They were – Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad.
• Rajendra Prasad was the first President of Republic India. He was the only person who held the chair twice.
• The only woman to serve the post of President was Pratibha Patil who was the 12th President.
• The only President (Acting) who worked earlier as Chief Justice of India and was Recipient of Order of British Empire – Mohammad Hidayatullah.
• The only President who earlier worked as 1 st Chief Minister of a State – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. He was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
• The only President who earlier worked as Speaker of Lok Sabha – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.
• The only President who was a Scientist – A P J Abdul Kalam
• Only 4 Presidents who received Bharat Ratna – S Radhakrishnan in 1954, Rajendra Prasad in 1962, Zakir Hussain in 1963, APJ Abdul Kalam in 1997.
• The only President who was from Janta Party – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Out of 13 Presidents 7 belonged to Political Parties. Out of these 7, 6 Presidents belonged to Congress and only one belonged to Janta Party before being elected to chair.

For Detailed Notes on President of India

Click Here – President of India – Election Process, Qualification, Term, Salary, Oath, Constitutional Position etc.

Click Here – President of India – Powers and Functions

You can find the List of All the Prime Ministers of India Here.