Article 52 of the Indian Constitution states that there shall a President of India. The president is the nominal head of the government, he acts on the advice of the Prime Minister (Council of Ministers). All executive action is taken in the name of the President of India. All the MoU signed with any foreign country is in the name of the President of India. The first president of India was Dr. Rajandra Prasad while the current President of India is Shri Ram Nath Kovind. He was elected as the president on 25th July 2017. Let’s have a look at the list of the candidates who have been elected as President so far.

Important points

He is the constitutional head of the parliamentary system of the government. He is also the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. He represents the nation but does not rule it. The real power rests with the council of ministers.

President is elected by the electoral college of
(i) elected members of both houses of the Parliament
(ii) elected members of state legislatures
(iii) elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Delhi and Puducherry (added by 70th amendment Act, 1992).

Elected for five years but eligible for immediate re-election and can serve any number of terms.

The President can be removed from the post in case it is found that there is any violation of the constitution by the president. This impeachment can be moved in either house of parliament.

The Vice President acts as President in the absence of the president due to death, resignation, impeachment, or other situations if the Vice President’s seat is vacant then the Chief Justice of India acts as the President of India.

Presidents of India List

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first president of India while Shri Ram Nath Kovind is the present of India. The chronological sequence of the presidents of India is given in the table below. Check all the presidents of India.

Name	Starting date	Closing date	Profiles
1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad	January 26th, 1950	May 13th, 1962	He was the first President of the republic of India.
2. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	May 13th, 1962	May 13th, 1967	He was the 2nd President of India.
3. Dr Zakir Hussain	May 13th, 1967	May 3rd, 1969	He was the 3rd President of India.
4. Varahagiri Venkata Giri	May 3rd, 1969	July 20th, 1969	He was acting President because of Hussain’s death.
5. Mohammad Hidayatullah	July 20th, 1969	August 24th, 1969	He was acting President till Giri’s presidency.
6. Varahagiri Venkata Giri	August 24th, 1969	August 24th, 1974	He was the 4th President of India.
7. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	August 24th, 1974	February 11th, 1977	He was the 5th President of India.
8. Basappa Danappa Jatti	February 11th, 1977	July 25th, 1977	He was a chief minister of the Mysore but got elected as President, After the death of Ahmed.
9. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	July 25th, 1977	July 25th, 1982	Reddy was the 6th President of India unopposed.
10. Giani Zail Singh	July 25th, 1982	July 25th, 1987	He was the 7th President of India and was also a member of the Congress party.
11. Ramaswamy Venkataraman	July 25th, 1987	July 25th, 1992	He was the 8th President of India. He was also a lawyer and a professional politician.
12. Shankar Dayal Sharma	July 25th, 1992	July 25th, 1997	He was the 9th President of India, and he was also a member of the National Congress party of India.
13. Kocheril Raman Narayanan	July 25th, 1997	July 25th, 2002	He was the 10th President of India and the best diplomat in India.
14. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam	July 25th, 2002	July 25th, 2007	He was the 11th President of India, and he was a great scientist. He worked in ISRO and DRDO organizations.
15. Pratibha Patil	July 25th, 2007	July 25th, 2012	She was the 12th President of India, and she was the first woman to Be President.
16. Pranab Mukherjee	July 25th, 2012	July 25th, 2017	He was the 13th President of India, and he was also a senior leader of the National Congress party.
17. Shri Ram Nath Kovind	July 25th, 2017	Working	He is the 14th President of India, and he is also ex-governor Of Bihar.

Presidents of India: Eligibility

The Indian Constitution’s Article 58 states a few conditions for a candidate to be eligible for the election of the president. Some of the following have been given below:

The President should be a citizen of India.

The President must be above the age of 35 years.

The President should be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha.

The President of India should not contain any office of profit under the State Government, Union, and other local authorities.

Presidents of India: Important Facts

To date, seven Presidents have been members of a political party before being elected.

Six of these were active party members of the Congress Party.

Dr.  Rajendra Prasad (first President of India) is the only person to have held office for two terms.

Incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind was the Governor of Bihar before becoming the President of India.