List of Indian presidents

List of Presidents of India

The president of India is the head of state of India and the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The president is referred to as the first citizen of India.

Prasad, from Bihar, was the first president of independent India and also the longest-serving president, as the only president to serve two or more terms in office. He was also a freedom fighter during the Indian independence movement. He received the Bharat Ratna award in 1962.

Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher and writer and also held the position of vice-chancellor of the Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University.He received the Bharat Ratna award in 1954 before becoming the President.He was the first president from South India.

Husain was vice-chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna award in 1963.He died in office, the first to do so. He was also the shortest-serving President. He was also the first Muslim President.

He was elected Vice President of India in 1967. Following the death of President Zakir Husain, Giri was appointed as Acting President. He resigned after a few months to take part in the presidential elections.He received the Bharat Ratna award in 1975.

Hidayatullah served as the Chief Justice of India and was also a recipient of the Order of the British Empire.He served as Acting President until the election of Giri as the President of India

Giri was the first person to have served as both an acting president and president of India. He was a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and served as Labour and Employment Minister and High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Ahmed served as a Minister before being elected as president. He died in 1977 before his term of office ended, and was the second Indian president to die in office. He was also president during Emergency.

Jatti was the vice president of India during Ahmed's term of office, and was sworn in as Acting President upon Ahmed's death. He earlier served as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore State.

Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Reddy was the only Member of Parliament from the Janata Party to get elected from Andhra Pradesh.He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 26 March 1977 and relinquished this office on 13 July 1977 to become the 6th President of India.

In March 1972, Singh assumed the position of Chief Minister of Punjab, and in 1980, he became Union Home Minister. He was also secretary general to Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) from 1983 to 1986

In 1942, Venkataraman was jailed by the British for his involvement in the Indian independence movement. After his release, he was elected to independent India's Provisional Parliament as a member of the Congress Party in 1950 and eventually joined the central government, where he first served as Minister of Finance and Industry and later as Minister of Defence

Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Minister for Communications. He also served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra.

Narayanan served as India's ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and United States of America. He received doctorates in Science and Law and was also a chancellor in several universities.He was also the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University.He was the first Dalit President.

Kalam was an educator and engineer who played a leading role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.He also received the Bharat Ratna. He was popularly known as "People's President" . He was a Aerospace scientist Author

Awards Padma Bhushan (1981) Padma Vibhushan (1990) Bharat Ratna (1997)

Patil was the first woman to become the President of India. She was also the first female governor of Rajasthan.

Mukherjee held various posts in the cabinet ministry for the Government of India such as Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
He received the Bharat Ratna award in 2019.

Kovind was governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017 and a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2006. He is the second Dalit president (after K. R. Narayanan) and is the first president from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is an active member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since his youth.