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. Although the president is vested such powers by the constitution of India, the position is largely a ceremonial role and the executive powers are de facto exercised by the Cabinet Ministers and Prime Minister. The post of President is known in Hindi as Rashtrapati, a Sanskrit neologism meaning "lord of the realm". The President is elected by the Electoral College composed of elected members of the parliament houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislative assemblies. 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. Varahagiri Venkata Giri became Acting President of India in 1969 following the death of Zakir Hussain, who died in office. Giri was elected President a few months later. He remains the only person to have held office both as a president and acting president. The President may remain in office for a tenure of five years, as stated by article 56, part V, of the constitution of India. 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. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.

The current President is Pranab Mukherjee elected on 25 July 2012. 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 originally comes from West Bengal and is also the first Bengali to hold the post of the President. The ex- president, Pratibha Patil, who was in office till 25 July 2012, was elected as the 12th President of India in 2007. She is also the first woman to serve as President of India. PRESIDENTSSL No 1 Name From Date To Date

Rajendra Prasad 26 January 1950 13 May 1962

(18841963) 2

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 13 May 1962 13 May 1967

(18881975) 3

Zakir Hussain 13 May 1967 3 May 1969

(18971969) 4

Varahagiri Venkata Giri 24 August 1969 24 August 1974

(18941980)

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 24 August 1974 11 February 1977

(19051977) 6

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy 25 July 1977 25 July 1982

(19131996) 7

Giani Zail Singh 25 July 1982 25 July 1987

(19161994) 8

Ramaswamy Venkataraman 25 July 1987 25 July 1992

(4 December 19102009) 9 Shankar Dayal Sharma

(19 August 19181999) 25 July 1992 10 Kocheril Raman Narayanan

25 July 1997

(27 October 19202005) 11 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

25 July 1997

25 July 2002

(15 October1931 ) 12 Pratibha Patil

25 July 2002

25 July 2007

(1934 ) 13

25 July 2007

25 July 2012

Pranab Mukherjee 25 July 2012 Incumbent

(1935 )