List of heads of state of India

This is a list of the heads of state of India, from the independence of India in 1947 to the present day. The current head of state of India is Ram Nath Kovind, elected in 2017 after being nominated by BJP, the party run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

From 1947 to 1950 the head of state under the Indian Independence Act 1947 was King of India,^[1]^[2] who was also the monarch of the United Kingdom and of the other Dominions of the British Commonwealth. The monarch was represented in India by a governor-general. India became a republic under the Constitution of 1950 and the monarch and governor-general were replaced by a ceremonial president.

Monarch (1947–1950)[edit | edit source]

The succession to the throne was the same as the succession to the British throne.

№	Monarch (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Reign		Royal House	Prime Minister	Governor General
№	Monarch (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Reign start	Reign end	Royal House	Prime Minister	Governor General
1	George VI (1895–1952)		15 August 1947	26 January 1950	Windsor	Nehru	Mountbatten (1947–1948)
1	George VI (1895–1952)		15 August 1947	26 January 1950	Windsor	Nehru	Rajagopalachari (1948–1950)

Governor-General[edit | edit source]

The Governor-General was the representative of the Monarch in India and exercised most of the powers of the Monarch. The Governor-General was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the Monarch. After the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Governor-General was appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of India without the involvement of the British government. In the event of a vacancy the Chief Justice served as Officer Administering the Government.

№	Governor-General (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Tenure		Monarch	Prime Minister
№	Governor-General (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Monarch	Prime Minister
1	The Rt. Hon. The Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979)		15 August 1947	21 June 1948	George VI	Nehru
2	Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878–1972)		21 June 1948	26 January 1950	George VI	Nehru

President of India[edit | edit source]

Under the Constitution, of the Republic of India, the president replaced the monarch as ceremonial head of state. The president is elected by the Electoral College for a five-year term. In the event of a vacancy, the vice president serves as acting president.

Status

Denotes Vice-President acting as President

№	President (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Tenure		Elected	Political affiliation (at time of appointment)		Prime Minister
№	President (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Elected	Political affiliation (at time of appointment)		Prime Minister
1	Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963)		26 January 1950	13 May 1962	1952 1957		Indian National Congress	Nehru
2	Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)		13 May 1962	13 May 1967	1962		Independent	Nehru Nanda Shastri Nanda Gandhi
3	Zakir Husain (1897–1969)		13 May 1967	3 May 1969 (died in office.)	1967		Independent	Gandhi
–	V. V. Giri (1894–1980)		3 May 1969	20 July 1969	–		Independent	Gandhi
–	Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992)		20 July 1969	24 August 1969	–		^[3]	Gandhi
4	V. V. Giri (1894–1980)		24 August 1969	24 August 1974	1969		Independent	Gandhi
5	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977)		24 August 1974	11 February 1977 (died in office.)	1974		Indian National Congress	Gandhi
–	B. D. Jatti (1912–2002)		11 February 1977	25 July 1977	–		Indian National Congress	Gandhi Desai
6	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913–1996)		25 July 1977	25 July 1982	1977		Janata Party	Desai Singh Gandhi
7	Giani Zail Singh (1916–1994)		25 July 1982	25 July 1987	1982		Indian National Congress	Gandhi Gandhi
8	R. Venkataraman (1910–2009)		25 July 1987	25 July 1992	1987		Indian National Congress	Gandhi Singh Shekhar Rao
9	Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918–1999)		25 July 1992	25 July 1997	1992		Indian National Congress	Rao Vajpayee Deve Gowda Gujral
10	K. R. Narayanan (1920–2005)		25 July 1997	25 July 2002	1997		Indian National Congress	Gujral Vajpayee
11	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015)		25 July 2002	25 July 2007	2002		Independent	Vajpayee Singh
12	Pratibha Patil (born 1934)		25 July 2007	25 July 2012	2007		Indian National Congress	Singh
13	Pranab Mukherjee (1935–2020)		25 July 2012	25 July 2017	2012		Indian National Congress	Singh Modi
14	Ram Nath Kovind (born 1945)		25 July 2017	Incumbent	2017		Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi

Standards[edit | edit source]

Badge of Monarch of India (1947–1950)
Governor-General's Standard (1947–1950)

Governor-General's Standard (1947–1950)
Presidential Standard (1950–1971)

Living former heads of state[edit | edit source]

There is only one living former Indian head of state:

Image	Name	Term/reign	Office	Date of birth
	Pratibha Patil	2007–2012	President of India	(1934-12-19) 19 December 1934 (age 91)

References[edit | edit source]

↑ The Contemporary Commonwealth: An Assessment 1965-2009, Taylor & Francis, 2009, p. 22, ISBN 9781135238308, On independence in 1947, George VI became 'King of India' until the adoption of republican status in 1950.
↑ Jawaharlal Nehru (1991), Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru: 21 June to 15 August 1949, Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, p. 363, King George was in effect King of India and it was as such that he functioned as the Head of the Indian State. He did not function in India as the King of England.
↑ Was Chief Justice of India

External links[edit | edit source]

Template:Heads of State of India

[1] The Contemporary Commonwealth: An Assessment 1965-2009, Taylor & Francis, 2009, p. 22, ISBN 9781135238308, On independence in 1947, George VI became 'King of India' until the adoption of republican status in 1950.

[2] Jawaharlal Nehru (1991), Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru: 21 June to 15 August 1949, Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, p. 363, King George was in effect King of India and it was as such that he functioned as the Head of the Indian State. He did not function in India as the King of England.

[3] Was Chief Justice of India

[1]

[2]

[3]