This post covers the List of Presidents of India and the Method of President’s election and President’s Powers & duties.

Who is the President?

• The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India. The President is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
• There have been 13 presidents of India since the introduction of the post in 1950.
• The post was established when India was declared as a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution.
• Apart from these thirteen, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time.

How is the President elected?

• The Indian President is elected indirectly by an electoral college composed of elected members of the parliament houses, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislative assemblies of two Union Territories (i.e., National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi and Union Territory of Puducherry).
• The election is held in accordance with the system of Proportional representation by means of the Single transferable vote method. The voting takes place by a secret ballot system. The manner of election of President is provided by Article 55 of the Constitution.

Who is Eligible to become the President?  

Article 58 of the Constitution sets the principal qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of the President. A President must be:

• A citizen of India
• Of 35 years of age or above
• Qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha
• A person shall not be eligible for election as President if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments.

What are the Powers and Duties of the President?

• The primary duty of the President is to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law of India as made part of his oath (Article 60 of Indian constitution).
• The President is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces.
• The President can declare three types of emergencies: national, state and financial, under articles 352, 356 & 360 in addition to promulgating ordinances under article 123.
• President appoints the Chief Justice of the Union Judiciary and other judges on the advice of the Chief Justice.
• He dismisses the judges if and only if the two Houses of the Parliament pass resolutions to that effect by a two-thirds majority of the members present.

List of Presidents of India

Did you know?

• V V Giri became first Acting President of India in 1969 after the death of Zakir Hussain in office.
• There were 2 Presidents who died during their incumbency period ie on Chair. They were – Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad.
• The only woman to serve in 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. He also worked as Speaker of Lok Sabha.
•  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.
• Droupadi Murmu: Current President of India 2022
• RAJENDRA PRASAD: First President of India.
• PARTIBHA PATIL: First female president of India.

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