List of Presidents of India from 1950 to 2024

India's president serves a ceremonial role, elected for five years under Article 56 by an Electoral College. Discover the list of Presidents of India, Pratibha Patil was the first woman president; the current President of India is Droupadi Murmu. Rajendra Prasad served two terms.

The president of India serves as the ceremonial head of state and Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, according to the Constitution. Executive powers, however, are largely exercised by the prime minister. The president is elected by an Electoral College comprising members of Parliament and state legislative assemblies, serving a five-year term as per Article 56, Part V of the Constitution.

In the absence of the president, the vice president assumes office, and Parliament decides alternative arrangements as per Article 70, Part V.
Since India became a republic in 1950, there have been 15 presidents, with three acting presidents temporarily filling the role. Varahagiri Venkata Giri is notable for serving as both an acting president and an elected president. Rajendra Prasad is the only president to serve two terms. Seven presidents have had political party affiliations, primarily with the Indian National Congress. Two presidents, Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, died in office, with their vice presidents serving as acting presidents until new elections. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, elected in 2007, was the first woman president, and Droupadi Murmu, inaugurated on July 25, 2022, became the second woman and first tribal person to hold the office.

List of Presidents of India

This list is numerically ordered according to presidents elected following successful Indian presidential elections. The terms of Varahagiri Venkata Giri, M. Hidayatullah, and B. D. Jatti, who served as acting presidents, are not included as counted terms of office. The president of India does not represent any political party.

Name	Home State	Starting Date	Ending Date	Profiles
Droupadi Murmu	Odisha	July 21st, 2022	Present	She is the 15th President of India and was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Shri Ram Nath Kovind	Uttar Pradesh	July 25th, 2017	July 21st, 2022	He is the 14th President of India, and he is also ex-governor of Bihar.
Pranab Mukherjee	West Bengal	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.
Pratibha Patil	Maharashtra	July 25th, 2007	July 25th, 2012	She was the 12th President of India, and she was the first woman to be President.
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam	Tamil Nadu	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.
Kocheril Raman Narayanan	Kerala	July 25th, 1997	July 25th, 2002	He was the 10th President of India and the best diplomat in India.
Shankar Dayal Sharma	Madhya Pradesh	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.
Ramaswamy Venkataraman	Tamil Nadu	July 25th, 1987	July 25th, 1992	He was the 8th President of India. He was also a lawyer and a professional politician.
Giani Zail Singh	Punjab	July 25th, 1982	July 25th, 1987	He was the 7th President of India and was also a member of the Congress party.
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	Andhra Pradesh	July 25th, 1977	July 25th, 1982	Reddy was the 6th President of India unopposed.
Basappa Danappa Jatti	Karnataka	February 11th, 1977	July 25th, 1977	He was a chief minister of Mysore but got elected as President after the death of Ahmed.
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	National Capital Territory of Delhi	August 24th, 1974	February 11th, 1977	He was the 5th President of India.
Varahagiri Venkata Giri	Odisha	August 24th, 1969	August 24th, 1974	He was the 4th President of India.
Mohammad Hidayatullah	Chhattisgarh	July 20th, 1969	August 24th, 1969	He was acting President till Giri’s presidency.
Varahagiri Venkata Giri	Odisha	May 3rd, 1969	July 20th, 1969	He was acting President because of Hussain’s death.
Dr. Zakir Hussain	Andhra Pradesh	May 13th, 1967	May 3rd, 1969	He was the 3rd President of India.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	Tamil Nadu	May 13th, 1962	May 13th, 1967	He was the 2nd President of India.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad	Bihar	January 26th, 1950	May 13th, 1962	He was the first President of the Republic of India.

All Indian Presidents: Interesting facts

Dr. Rajendra Prasad holds the record for being the longest-serving President of India, completing two terms in office.
The third President of India, Zakir Hussain, had the shortest tenure as he passed away while in office.
Besides the full-term Presidents listed in the table above, three individuals served as interim Presidents: Varahagiri Venkata Giri, Mohammad Hidayatullah, and Basappa Danappa Jatti.
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy not only became the youngest President of India but also previously served as the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Pratibha Patil made history as the first and only female President of India.
According to Article 61 of the Indian Constitution, if the President of India wishes to resign, they must submit a handwritten letter to the Vice President.
The President of India is elected by members of both the Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories.