Presidents of India
Q. Which of the following have acted as acting Presidents of India?
1) Dr. Zakir Husain.
2) Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah.
3) Varahagiri Venkatagiri.- Published on 28 Feb 17a. 1, 2
b. 1, 3
c. 2, 3
d. All of the above
ANSWER: 2, 3
Former Presidents are -
1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad - 1950– 1962.
2. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan - 1962–1967.
3. Dr. Zakir Husain - 1967-1969 (Died).
4. Varahagiri Venkatagiri - 1969-1969 (Acting).
5. Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah - 1969-1969 (Acting).
6. Varahagiri Venkatagiri - 1969-1974.
7. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed - 1974-1977 (Died).
8. B.D. Jatti - 1977-1977 (Acting).
9. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy - 1977-1982.
10. Giani Zail Singh - 1982-1987.
11. R. Venkataraman - 1987-1992.
12. Dr. Shanker Dayal Sharma - 1992-1997.
13. K.R. Narayanan - 1997-2002.
14. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam - 2002-2007.
15. Smt. Pratibha Patil - 2007-2012.
16. Pranab Mukherjee - 2012-till date.
- The current President is Pranab Mukherjee who is the 13th President of India.
- The ex-president, Pratibha Patil, who was in office till July 2012, was elected as the 12th President of India in 2007.
- She is also the first woman to serve as President of India.
- 7 presidents have been members of a political party before being elected.
- 6 of these were active party members of the Indian National Congress.
- The Janata Party has had one member, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who later became president.
- Two presidents, Zakir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office.
- Their vice-presidents functioned as acting president until a new president was elected.
- Following Hussain's death, two acting presidents held office until the new president, Varahagiri Venkata Giri, was elected.
- Varahagiri Venkata Giri himself, Hussain's vice president, was the first acting president.
- When Giri resigned to take part in the presidential elections, he was superseded by Muhammad Hidayatullah as acting president.
