<P> This list is numbered based on Presidents elected after winning an Indian Presidential election . The terms of Varahagiri Venkata Giri, Mohammad Hidayatullah, and Basappa Danappa Jatti, who served as Acting President, are therefore not numbered . The President of India does not represent any political party . The colours used in the table indicate the following: </P> <Dl> <Dt> Colour key </Dt> </Dl> <Table> <Tr> <Th> No </Th> <Th> Name (birth--death) </Th> <Th> Photograph </Th> <Th> Elected </Th> <Th> Took office </Th> <Th> Left office </Th> <Th> Term (in months) </Th> <Th> Vice President </Th> <Th_colspan="2"> Candidate of </Th> <Th> Notes </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> Rajendra Prasad (1884--1963) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1952 1957 </Td> <Td> 26 January 1950 </Td> <Td> 12 May 1962 </Td> <Td> 120 </Td> <Td> Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Indian National Congress </Td> <Td> Prasad, from Bihar, was the first President of independent India and also the longest - serving President, as the only president to serve two terms in office . He was also a freedom fighter during the Indian independence movement . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888--1975) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1962 </Td> <Td> 13 May 1962 </Td> <Td> 13 May 1967 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Zakir Husain </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Independent </Td> <Td> Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher and writer and also held the position of vice-chancellor of the Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. . He received the Bharat Ratna award in 1954 before becoming the President . He was the first President from South India . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> Zakir Husain (1897--1969) </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> 1967 </Td> <Td> 13 May 1967 </Td> <Td> 3 May 1969 </Td> <Td> 24 </Td> <Td> Varahagiri Venkata Giri </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Independent </Td> <Td> 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 . He was also the first Muslim President . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th>--</Th> <Td> Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894--1980) </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> 3 May 1969 </Td> <Td> 20 July 1969 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> He was elected Vice President of India in 1967 . Following the death of President Zakir Husain, Giri was appointed as Acting President . He resigned after a few months to take part in the presidential elections . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th>--</Th> <Td> Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905--1992) </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> 20 July 1969 </Td> <Td> 24 August 1969 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> 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 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894--1980) </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> 1969 </Td> <Td> 24 August 1969 </Td> <Td> 24 August 1974 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Gopal Swarup Pathak </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Independent </Td> <Td> Giri was the first person to have served as both an acting president and president of India . He was a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and served as Indian Minister of Labour and High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka). </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905--1977) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 24 August 1974 </Td> <Td> 11 February 1977 </Td> <Td> 36 </Td> <Td> Gopal Swarup Pathak (1974) <P> Basappa Danappa Jatti (1974--1977) </P> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Indian National Congress </Td> <Td> Ahmed served as a Minister before being elected as president . He died in 1977 before his term of office ended, and was the second Indian president to die in office . He was also president during Emergency . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th>--</Th> <Td> Basappa Danappa Jatti (1912--2002) </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> 11 February 1977 </Td> <Td> 25 July 1977 </Td> <Td> 6 </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> 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 served as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore State . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 6 </Th> <Td> Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913--1996) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1977 </Td> <Td> 25 July 1977 </Td> <Td> 25 July 1982 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Basappa Danappa Jatti (1977--1979) <P> Mohammad Hidayatullah (1979--1982) </P> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Janata Party </Td> <Td> Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh . Reddy was the only Member of Parliament from the Janata Party to get elected from Andhra Pradesh . 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 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 7 </Th> <Td> Zail Singh (1916--1994) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1982 </Td> <Td> 25 July 1982 </Td> <Td> 25 July 1987 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Mohammad Hidayatullah (1982--1984) <P> Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1984--1987) </P> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Indian National Congress </Td> <Td> 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 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 8 </Th> <Td> Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910--2009) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 25 July 1987 </Td> <Td> 25 July 1992 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Shankar Dayal Sharma </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Indian National Congress </Td> <Td> 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 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 9 </Th> <Td> Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918--1999) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 25 July 1992 </Td> <Td> 25 July 1997 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Kocheril Raman Narayanan </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Indian National Congress </Td> <Td> Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Minister for Communications . He also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 10 </Th> <Td> Kocheril Raman Narayanan (1920--2005) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 25 July 1997 </Td> <Td> 25 July 2002 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Krishan Kant </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Independent </Td> <Td> 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 Dalit President . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 11 </Th> <Td> Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (1931--2015) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 2002 </Td> <Td> 25 July 2002 </Td> <Td> 25 July 2007 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Krishan Kant (2002) <P> Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (2002--2007) </P> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Independent </Td> <Td> Kalam was an educator and engineer who played a leading role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs . He also received the Bharat Ratna . Kalam died following a heart attack while delivering a speech in Shillong . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 12 </Th> <Td> Pratibha Patil (1934--) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 2007 </Td> <Td> 25 July 2007 </Td> <Td> 25 July 2012 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Mohammad Hamid Ansari </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Indian National Congress </Td> <Td> Patil was the first woman to become the President of India . She was also the first female governor of Rajasthan . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 13 </Th> <Td> Pranab Mukherjee (1935--) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 2012 </Td> <Td> 25 July 2012 </Td> <Td> 25 July 2017 </Td> <Td> 60 </Td> <Td> Mohammad Hamid Ansari </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Indian National Congress </Td> <Td> 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 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 14 </Th> <Td> Ram Nath Kovind (1945--) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 2017 </Td> <Td> 25 July 2017 </Td> <Td> Incumbent </Td> <Td>--</Td> <Td> Venkaiah Naidu </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Bharatiya Janata Party </Td> <Td> Kovind was governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017 and a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2006 . He is the second Dalit president after K.R. Narayanan . He originally belongs to BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and is an active member of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) since his youth . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> No </Th> <Th> Name (birth--death) </Th> <Th> Photograph </Th> <Th> Elected </Th> <Th> Took office </Th> <Th> Left office </Th> <Th> Term (in months) </Th> <Th> Vice President </Th> <Th_colspan="2"> Candidate of </Th> <Th> Notes </Th> </Tr>

Who was the first president of our india