President Election 2022: 14 Presidents who have served the nation so far

The NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu crossed the 50 per cent mark after the third round of counting to emerge victorious in the poll over her rival Yashwant Sinha

The 2022 Indian presidential election was held on Monday, July 18. It was conducted to elect the 15th president of the country. The ruling National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu on Thursday crossed the 50 per cent mark after the third round of counting to emerge victorious in the poll over her rival Yashwant Sinha. An official announcement on her win is expected after all votes are counted.
 

How is the President of India elected?

The President of India is indirectly elected by an electoral college, which consists of the elected members of both the houses of parliament, members of legislative assemblies of 28 states, and members of the union territories of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Election Commission assigns a varying number of votes to the electoral college’s members proportionate to the size of their constituency.

The electoral college

• 776 members of parliament
• 4,033 members of legislative assemblies
• 4,809 total votes

Who were the nominees for this year’s presidential election?

Droupadi Murmu

Murmu, 64 and a BJP leader, is the first person from a scheduled tribe to be nominated for the post of Indian president. She belongs to the Santhal tribe of Odisha. Previously, she has served as a legislator and the governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021. She is now set to become India’s first tribal president and only the second woman to hold the position.

Yashwant Sinha

Sinha, 84, is a former BJP leader who left the party in April 2018 and joined the rival Trinamool Congress in March 2021. He has previously served as the Union Minister of Finance and External Affairs. He was born in Patna, Bihar, and joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1960, spending over 24 years in the service.

List of presidents of India

• Rajendra Prasad, a Congress leader, was the first president of India. He served in office for a span of 12 years from 1950 to 1962. 
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the second president of India, who served from 1962 to 1967.
• Zakir Hussain was the third president of India who remained in office for two years.
• VV Giri, an independent candidate, served as the president of India from 1969-1974.
• Congress leader Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth president of India. He was in office between 1974 and 1977.
• The sixth Indian president was Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. He held the top post from 1977 to 1982.
• Zail Singh, a Congress leader, served as the seventh Indian president, from 1982 to 1987.
• Ramaswamy Venkataraman was the eighth president of India. He served between 1987 and 1992.
• Congress leader Shankar Dayal Sharma was the ninth president of India and served between 1992 and 1997.
• KR Narayan served as the president of India between 1997 and 2002.
• APJ Abdul Kalam, a renowned scientist, was the 111h president of India. He held the post from 2002 to 2007.
• Prathiba Patil, India’s first woman president, remained in office from 2007 to 2012.
• Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee was the 13th president of India. He served in office from 2012 to 2017.
• Ram Nath Kovind is the current and 14th president of India whose term is due to end on July 25.