President of India

Shri Ram Nath Kovind, born October 01, 1945, is an Indian politician who is the 14th and current President of India, in office since 25th July 2017. Previously he served as Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017 and was a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006. He was a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Shri Ram Nath Kovind was nominated as a presidential candidate by the ruling NDA coalition and won the 2017 presidential election, becoming the second Dalit to be elected to the post of President.

Before entering politics, he was a lawyer for 16 years and practiced in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court until 1993.

Shri Ram Nath Kovind

Father's Name: Late Shri Maiku Lal

Mother's Name: Late Smt. Kalavati

Date of Birth: October 01, 1945

Place of Birth: Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh

Marital Status: Married

Spouse's Name: Smt. Savita Kovind

Children: Prashant Kumar and Swati

Educational Qualifications: B.Com, L.L.B.

Permanent Address: Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh

Present Address: Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, 110004, Tel: 011-23015321

Profession: Advocate, Politician and Activist

Positions Held:

Member, Rajya Sabha, 1994-2006. (Elected from Uttar Pradesh)
Permanent Advocate at Hon'ble Supreme Court of India for Central Govt. (1980-93).
Member, Parliamentary Committees for SC/ST Welfare, Home Ministry, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Social Justice and Rights, Law & Justuce, Chairman of Rajya Sabha Housing Committee.
Member, Management Board for Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Lucknow.
Member, Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.
Represented India at United Nations (New York) and addressed the General Assembly during Oct, 2002.
Governor of Bihar from 16-08-2015 to 21-06-2017

Countries Visited: Widely travelled

The President of the Republic of India is the head of state of India and the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.

The President is indirectly elected by an electoral college comprising the Parliament of India (both upper and lower houses) and the Legislative Assemblies of each of India's states and territories, who themselves are all directly elected. The office-holder serves for a term of five years; there are no term limits. The oath of the President is taken in the presence of the Chief Justice of India, and in their absence, by the most senior judge of the Supreme Court of India.

Although the Article 53 of the Constitution of India states that the President can exercise his powers directly or by subordinate authority, with few exceptions, all of the executive powers vested in the President are, in practice, exercised by the Prime Minister with the help of the Council of Ministers. The President is bound by convention to act on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The President resides in an estate known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan situated in Raisina Hill in New Delhi. The presidential retreats are The Retreat in Chharabra, Shimla and Rashtrapati Nilayam (President's Place) in Hyderabad.

Eligibility

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

1. a citizen of India
2. of 35 years of age or above
3. 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. Certain office-holders, however, are permitted to stand as Presidential candidates. These are:

The current Vice-President
The Governor of any state
A Minister of the Union or of any state (including Prime Minister and Chief Ministers)

In the event that the Vice-President, a State Governor or a Minister is elected President, they are considered to have vacated their previous office on the date they begin serving as President. A member of Parliament or of a State Legislature can seek election to the office of the President but if he is elected as President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in Parliament or State Legislature on the date on which he enters upon his office as President [Article 59(1)]. Article 57 provides that a person who holds, or who has held, office as President shall, subject to the other provisions of this Constitution, be eligible for re-election to that office. Under The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, a candidate to be nominated for the office of president needs 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders for his name to appear on the ballot.

List of All Presidents of India

No.	Name	Term Start	Term End	Description
1	Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963)	26th January 1950	13th May 1962	Prasad, from Bihar, was the first President of independent India, and also the longest-serving President, for 12 years. He was also a freedom fighter during the Indian independence movement. Prasad was the only president to serve two terms in office. Prasad, from Bihar, was the first President of independent India, and also the longest-serving President, for 12 years. He was also a freedom fighter during the Indian independence movement. Shree Prasad was the only president to serve two terms in office.
2	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975)	13th May 1962	13th May 1967	Second President of India and the reason why Teacher's Day is celebrated every year on 5th September. Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher and writer and also held the position of vice chancellor of the Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. He was also made a Knight of the Golden Army of Angels by Pope Paul VI. He received Bharat Ratna award in 1954 before becoming the President. He was the first President from South India.
3	Dr. Zakir Hussain (1897-1969)	May 13, 1967	May 3, 1969	Third President of India and the country's first Muslim President. Husain was vice chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. He died in office, the first to do so. He was also the shortest-serving President.
4	Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894-1980)	May 3, 1969	July 20, 1969	He was elected Vice President of India in 1967. Following the death of President Zakir Husain, Giri was appointed as Acting President. He resigned in a few months to take part in the presidential elections.
5	Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905-1992)	July 20, 1969	August 24, 1969	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.
6	Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894-1980)	24th August 1969	24th August 1974	Fourth President of India belonging to a Telugu Brahmin family residing in Andhra Pradesh. Giri is the only person to have served as both an acting president and president of India. He was a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and has functioned as Indian Minister of Labour and High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
7	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905-1977)	24th August 1974	11th February 1977	Fifth President of the Republic of India and an active member of the Indian National Congress. Ahmed served as a Minister before being elected as president. He died in 1977 before historical term of office ended, and was the second Indian president to die in office. He was also president during Emergency.
8	Basappa Danappa Jatti (1912-2002)	11th February 1977	25th July 1977	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 functioned as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore.
9	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913-1996)	25th July 1977	25th July 1982	Sixth President of India and the only person to be elected as the president of India unopposed. Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State. Reddy was the only Member of Parliament from the Janata Party to get elected from Andhra Pradesh.[20] 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.
10	Giani Zail Singh (1916-1994)	25th July 1982	25th July 1987	Seventh President of India and a member of the Indian National Congress and a sikh by religion. 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.
11	Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910-2009)	25th July 1987	25th July 1992	Eightth President of India and an indian lawyer and politician by profession. 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.
12	Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918-1999)	25th July 1992	25th July 1997	Ninth President of the Republic of India and a member of the Indian National Congress. Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Minister for Communications. He has also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra.[
13	Kocheril Raman Narayanan (1920-2005)	25th July 1997	25th July 2002	Tenth President of the Republic of India and one of "the best diplomats of the country". 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 President from Kerala, and also the first Dalit President.
14	Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015)	25th July 2002	25th July 2007	Eleventh President of India and an extremely talented scientist who has worked in organizations such as DRDO and ISRO. Kalam was a scientist who played a leading role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. He also received the Bharat Ratna. Kalam was affectionately known as the People's President, due to his extra-Presidential activities. He was the first bachelor president of India, and the first Muslim President who completed his term. Kalam died following a heart attack while delivering a speech in Shillong.
15	Pratibha Patil (born on 1934)	25th July 2007	25th July 2012	Twelfth President of India and the first women to hold the post. She was also the first female Governor of Rajasthan.
16	Pranab Mukherjee (born on 1935)	25th July 2012	25th July 2017	Thirteenth President of India and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. 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.
17	Shri Ram Nath Kovind (born on 1945)	25th July 2017	Incumbent	Fourteenth President of India. Kovind was Governor of Bihar from 2015 until 2017 and a Member of Parliament from 1994 until 2006. He is the second Dalit president after K. R. Narayanan. He originally belongs to BJP and is an active member of RSS since his youth.