India is the largest democratic country in the world, and is known all over the world for its diversity and its unity. India was ruled by the British Empire for almost 200 years, during their reign they not only influenced India's social and culture but they also influenced India's politics.

When India became independent on August 15, 1947, the golden phase of the constitution-making of India was going on at that time, but the biggest question before the Constituent Assembly was that what kind of governance system should be adopted in India, then after deep deliberations, it It was decided that most of the people of India are familiar with the British system of governance, so the parliamentary system was adopted in India.

Who is the President?

According to Article 52 of the Indian Constitution, the President of India is the constitutional head of the nation, who is the head of the parliamentary system of India. The President is given the status of being the first citizen of the country. The President appoints an "Inter-State Council" for cooperation between the state and various states. The parliamentary system of India is taken from Britain, in which case the post of Queen is used as the post of President in India and Rest of the other posts have been kept same.

Qualifications of the President of India:

In order to become the President of India, some important qualifications and conditions have been kept in Articles 58 and 59 of the Indian Constitution, which are as follows-

  1. He should be a citizen of India.
  2. Must have completed 35 years of age.
  3. Has been a member of the Lok Sabha or is eligible to be elected a member.
  4. Should not hold any government office of profit.
  5. Don't be bankrupt and mentally ill.

Election of the President of India

The election of the President of India is done by the independent constitutional body "Election Commission". This election is a secret election, in which the general public of India does not participate. Elected members of both Houses of Parliament, elected members of State Legislative Assemblies and MLAs of Puducherry and Delhi only in Union Territories can participate in the election of the President of India. The President is elected under the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. When a candidate wins the election, he is constitutionally appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court administers the oath of office to the President.

To participate in the presidential election, no candidate should be less than 35 years of age, should be eligible to be a member of the Lok Sabha, should not be a member of the Parliament or the State House, should not hold any office of profit Governors, Union ministers and ministers of any state can stand for the presidential election after resigning from their posts. Given below is the list of all the Presidents of India since independence along with their important details.

Powers and Functions of the President of India

(A) Executive Powers-

Under Article 53 of the Constitution of India, all the powers of the Parliament of India are vested in the President of India, who can exercise them only on the advice of the Council of Ministers (42nd Amendment). Following are the executive related powers of the President-

  1. All works of governance in the name of the President - According to Article 53, the entire power of the executive of the Center will be vested in the President, in such a situation, whatever work the executive will do, all those works will be done in the name of the President.
  2. Forming the cabinet and keeping information about their decisions - Whenever the elections to the Lok Sabha are completed in India, the President also does the work of appointing the leader of the majority party as the Prime Minister of India and also advises on the formation of the cabinet, which will be responsible for the future. I will advise the President on the performance of his functions. The President of India has the right to get information about the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers.
  3. Doubtful veto power related to the decisions of the cabinet (Veto Power) - According to Article 74 (A) of the Indian Constitution, the President can send back the decisions and proposals of the cabinet to the cabinet for reconsideration, but the reconsideration of the cabinet After discussion he will be bound to put them into practice.
  4. Chief of the three forces - The President of India is the supreme head of India's land, water and air and appoints other officers of the army.
  5. Powers related to appointment and retirement - The President of India is the Prime Minister, Ministers, Attorney General, Comptroller and Auditor General, Judges of Supreme and High Courts, Governor, Water Disputes Commission, Finance Commission, Union Public Service Commission, Chief Election Commissioner and State Language Commission etc. Makes appointments and retirements.
  6. Establishing diplomatic relations- To establish diplomatic relations, the President appoints ambassadors from time to time in other countries.

(B) Legislative Powers-

  1. An integral part of the Parliament- According to Article 79 of the Indian Constitution, the Parliament of India is constituted by the President of India, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, therefore the President is an integral part of the Parliament.
  2. The right to summon, adjourn, address, and dissolve the Parliament - The President of India only does the work of summoning the Parliament, if he wants, he can call both the Houses of Parliament together. It is the President who adjourns and addresses the Parliament. The President can also dissolve the Parliament on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
  3. Nominating Members of Parliament - The President also has the right to nominate 12 people related to art, literature and science in the Rajya Sabha.
  4. Giving approval to bills - A bill cannot become a law until the President signs it. It is mandatory to seek the advice of the President in special types of bills such as money bills, bills related to expenditure in the consolidated method, bills related to the names of states, bill related to the formation of territories, taxation bills, constitutional amendment bills and etc.

(C) Judicial Powers-

  1. Appointment of judges - Only the President of India can appoint the judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court but he cannot remove them.
  2. Right to pardon - If a person has been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court, that person can appeal to the President and the President can forgive or reduce his sentence by using the power of pardon.

(D) Financial Powers-

  1. Prior assent to Money Bill- No Money Bill of India can be introduced in the Lok Sabha without the prior approval of the President of India.
  2. Presenting the Budget- The President presents the Union Budget of India and the Parliament Budget in the Parliament with the help of the Finance Minister.
  3. Contingency Fund-related rights- Whenever there is a sudden need of money in any area in India, then the President can withdraw money from the currency fund of India, for this he does not need the permission of the Parliament.
  4. Appointment of Finance Commission - Only the President of India has the right to constitute the Finance Commission regarding the distribution of funds between the center and the state.
  5. Appointment of the Attorney General, Comptroller and Auditor General - The President of India appoints the Attorney General, Comptroller, and Auditor General. It is the Attorney General who submits the report of the Government Accounts to the President of India.

(E) Emergency Powers-

(The President of India can declare an emergency in India only in 3 situations which are as follows:

  1. In the event of foreign aggression (war) and armed insurrection - According to Article 352, the President of India can implement emergency in the whole of India in case of foreign aggression, war, and armed rebellion in India.
  2. On the failure of constitutional rule in the state - According to Article 356, when the governance of a state is not going on according to the constitution, then in that situation the President can declare an emergency in that state.
  3. Financial crisis- Under Article 360, if India feels that a major crisis is going to arise in a state due to lack of funds, then it can declare an emergency in that state.

Period of emergency-

The duration of emergency has been fixed only after the 44th amendment in the Indian constitution. According to this, the emergency can continue in any state of India or in India as long as the Parliament approves it. If the Parliament feels its need every 6 months during the emergency, it will continue it otherwise, it will remove it and call for re-elections.

Impeachment of the president:

Generally, the tenure of the President is of five years, but in special circumstances, he can leave his post. Under Article 61, the President can be impeached if the President has violated the Constitution.

For impeachment, an impeachment motion is brought in the Parliament, whose information is given to the President 14 days in advance. When both the houses together give 1/4th support to that proposal, then that proposal is passed and the President has to leave his post.

List of Presidents of India from 1950 to 2024:

Name Tenure Interesting fact
Dr. Rajendra Prasad 26 January 1950 to 13 May 1962 President of the Constituent Assembly
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 13 May 1962 to 13 May 1967 Vice president
Dr. Zakir Hussain 13 May 1967 to 03 May 1969 Death in office
VV Giri (Acting) 3 May 1969 to 20 July 1969 Vice president
Mohammad Hidayatullah (Acting) 20 July 1969 to 24 August 1969 Chief Justice
VV kernel 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974 As an independent candidate
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 24 August 1974 to 11 February 1977 Union Minister (death in office)
BD Jatti (Acting) 11 February 1977 to 25 July 1977 Vice president
Neelam Sanjiv Reddy 25 July 1977 to 25 July 1982 Elected unopposed, defeated in 1929
M. Hidayatullah (Acting) 02 October 1982 to 31 October 1982 Vice president
Giani Zail Singh 25 July 1982 to 25 July 1987 First Sikh President
Ramaswamy Venkataraman 25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992 Vice president
Shankar Dayal Sharma 25 July 1992 to 25 July 1997 Vice President (work with 4 prime ministers)
Dr. K. R. Narayanan 25 July 1997 to 25 July 2002 First Dalit
Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007 Scientist, pioneer of missile program
Mrs. Pratibha Patil 25 July 2007 to 25 July 2012 First female president
Pranab Mukherjee 25 July 2012 to 25 July 2017 Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister
Ramnath Kovind 25 July 2017 to 24 July 2022 Governor of Bihar
Draupadi Murmu 25 July 2022 till now Won twice on BJP ticket in 2000 and 2009 from Rairangpur seat in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha and became MLA. Between 2000 and 2004, he was made the Minister of Commerce, Transport and later in the Department of Fisheries and Animal Resources.

Other important facts related to the President of India:

  • The first woman candidate in the presidential election was Manohar Holkar who contested as an independent in 1967.
  • So far no President has been impeached in India.
  • Dr. Zakir Hussain had the shortest tenure as President, he remained President for almost 2 years.
  • Dr. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain, V. V. Giri, R. Venkataraman, Shankar Dayal Sharma and K. R Narayanan became the President from Vice President.
  • Rashtrapati Bhavan, which was the Viceroy's building before independence, was designed by Lutyens.
  • The term of the President is usually five years.
  • The salary of the President for 1 month is about 5 lakh rupees.

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The first President of India was Dr. Rajendra Prasad. He was served as the President of India from 26 January 1950 to 13 May 1962. He was one of the prominent leaders of the Indian freedom struggle and contributed significantly to the framing of the Indian Constitution.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first Indian who remained on his post for two consecutive terms of the President. He was also the first President of India. He was one of the prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement and played a prominent role as the President of the Indian National Congress.

Kerala-born Kocheri Ramana Narayanan (KR Narayan) was the tenth President of India. He studied economics at the London School of Economics after obtaining a master's degree in English from Travancore University. He is counted among the skilled politicians of India.

The maximum period of the President's ordinance is up to 6 months. Ordinances are laws that are promulgated by the President of India (Parliament of India) on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet, which will have the same effect as an Act of Parliament. They can be issued only when the Parliament is not in session.

  Last update :  Wed 24 Jan 2024
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