President of India

Posted by on Jan 17, 2009 in Indian Politicians

The President of India is the Head of the State and first citizen of India. He/She is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. In Hindi which is the official language of India, the President is known as ‘Rashtrapati’. Currently the President of India is Smt. Pratibha Patil who happens to be the first ever woman to hold this esteemed position. The President’s Official Residence is in New Delhi and is known as the ‘Rashtrapati Bhavan’. The President of India has a term of 5 years and is permitted to stand for re-election after the term is finished. He/She can be removed before the expiry of his/her term through impeachment (a process carried by the Parliament) if the President has done any violation of the Constitution.

Let’s have a look at the how, what and other questions related to the President of India.

How the President of India is elected

The President of India is elected by the members of an electoral college that consists of the elected members of both the Parliament (The Rajya Sabha and The Lok Sabha) and also the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of States and the Union Territories of Delhi and Pondicherry.

Qualifications required to become the President of India

  • Should be a citizen of India and is of or above 35 years of age.
  • Should be qualified for election as a member of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) – The qualifications for this is that the candidate should be mentally sound, is not bankrupt and has no criminal procedures against him/her.
  • Should not be holding any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State and at other lower levels of the Government.
  • There are exceptions to the above qualification that are: Office-holders like the Current Vice-President, Governor of any State or a Union Minister of any State are eligible to become the President. However, the Presidential Candidate is considered to have vacated their previous office on the date of serving as the President.

Powers of the President

According to the Constitution of India, the President is powered with certain Executive Powers (like appointing the Prime Minister, State Governors etc), Financial Powers (approving any money bills that are to be introduced in the Parliament, constituting the Finance Commission every 5 years etc) , Judicial Powers (appointing of the Chief Justice and other judges etc), Legislative Powers (like dissolving the Lok Sabha, approving of bills passed in the Parliament etc) and the Emergency Powers (The President can declare three types of Emergencies – National Emergency [caused by war, invasion of the country by foreign force or an armed rebellion etc], State Emergency [also called as the President’s Rule when the President is satisfied on the State Governor’s report that there is a failure of constitutional machinery in that state] and lastly Financial Emergency [when the nation faces deep financial instability]).

Following is the list of Presidents who have served India:

1. Rajendra Prasad (26 January 1950 – 13 May 1962)
2. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (13 May 1962 – 13 May 1967)
3. Zakir Hussain (13 May 1967 – 3 May 1969)

Varahagiri Venkata Giri (3 May 1969 – 20 July 1969, Served as an Acting President during this tenure after the death of President Dr. Zakir Hussain but he resigned after a brief period to take part in the Presidential Elections)

Muhammad Hidayatullah (20 July 1969 – 24 August 1969, Served as an Acting President following the resignation of VV Giri)

4. Varahagiri Venkata Giri (24 August 1969 – 24 August 1974)
5. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (24 August 1974 – 11 February 1977)

Basappa Danappa Jatti (11 February 1977 – 25 July 1977, Served as an Acting President during this tenure after the death of President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed)

6. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (25 July 1977 – 25 July 1982)
7. Giani Zail Singh (25 July 1982 – 25 July 1987)
8. R. Venkataraman (25 July 1987 – 25 July 1992)
9. Shankar Dayal Sharma (25 July 1992 – 25 July 1997)
10. K.R. Narayanan (25 July 1997 – 25 July 2002)
11. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (25 July 2002 – 25 July 2007)
12. Pratibha Patil (25 July 2007 – Incumbent)

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