Category Civics

K R Narayanan (25 July 1997 – 25 July 2002)

K R Narayanan was the first Indian president from the Dalit community. He was also the first person from Kerala to be elected as the president of our nation. In 1997, he succeeded Shankar Dayal Sharma as the tenth President of India, occupying the office till 2002. Narayanan did not hesitate to talk his mind, and he is regarded as an independent and assertive president who set several precedents.

K R Narayanan was born on 4th February, 1921 in the village of Uzhavoor in the Kottayam district in Kerala. He was born and brought up in a poor family. He had to walk for miles to reach his school, only to stand outside the class to attend the lectures, as his fees were always overdue.

After enduring such hardships he obtained his BA and MA in English literature from the University of Travancore, present day University of Kerala, standing first in the university. After finishing college he moved to Delhi and took up a job as a journalist. For one year he worked at The Hindu, and later joined The Times of India, as a reporter.

With the help of a scholarship by JRD Tata he studied Economics and Political Science at the London School of Economics. After finishing his education in London, he returned to India. At that time he met Jawaharlal Nehru who offered him a job in the Indian Foreign Service. He joined the IFS in 1949. He was a very good diplomat.

In 1984 on Indira Gandhi’s request Narayanan entered into electoral politics. He won three successive general elections to the Lok Sabha in 1984, 1989, and 1991. He was also a minister in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet.

In 1992, former prime minister V P Singh suggested his name as the vice president of India. He served as the ninth vice president from 1992 to 1997. After completion of his tenure he was elected as the President of India and assumed office on 25th July 1997. He served for five years and retired in 2002.

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Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma (25 July 1992 – 25 July 1997)

Shankar Dayal Sharma was the ninth President of India, and served his tenure from 1992 to 1997. Before he was elected to the post of president, he served as the eighth vice president of India under R. Venkataraman. Sharma was the only president other than R. Venkataraman in the 20th century, to work with four prime ministers, and appoint three of them.

Shankar Dayal Sharma was born on 19th August 1918 in Bhopal. After completing his education he worked at the Cambridge University and Lucknow University. He was an internationally acclaimed legal luminary and his articles have been published in many reputed international journals.

Sharma was a participant of India’s freedom struggle and also a member of the Indian National Congress. In the year 1952, he became the chief minister of the former state of Bhopal. Later, Sharma served as a communication minister from 1974 to 1977 in the cabinet of Indira Gandhi. Shankar Dayal Sharma was sworn in as the President of India on 25 July 1992 and remained in office till 25 July 1997.

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R. Venkataraman (25July 1987 – 25 July 1992)

Having been elected to the office of the President of India, R. Venkataraman was sworn in on July 25th, 1987. He was the eighth president of the Republic of India. During his tenure, which concluded on July 25th in 1992, India saw a quick succession of four prime ministers-Narasimha Rao, Chandra Shekhar, Rajiv Gandhi, and V.P. Singh. Venkataraman was a very eminent political personality throughout his lifetime.

R. Venkataraman was born on 4th December, 1910, in Rajamadam, Tamil Nadu. He did his under graduation in National College, Tiruchirappalli. Venkataraman obtained his Masters degree in Economics from Loyola College, Madras. He later, became a lawyer.

Venkataraman had actively participated in the Indian Independence movement. After independence he had served as the union finance minister and defence minister. He initiated India’s first missile programme. He was elected as the seventh vice president of India in 1984 and later, in July 1987, he was sworn in as the 8th President of India, serving till 1992.

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Giani Zail Singh (25 July 1982 – 25 July 1987)

Giani Zail Singh, who served as the seventh President of India, was the first Sikh to serve in the post. He held office from 1982 to 1987. His original name was Jarnail Singh. Zail Singh earned the title ‘Giani,’ which means ‘a learned person’, as he was well versed in Sikh doctrines.

Zail Singh was born in a mud house to a humble family in Faridkot district in Punjab. From a very young age he had shown enthusiasm in reading Sikh scriptures, Bhagavad Geeta and Ramayana. He later joined the Indian National Congress and took part in the freedom movement.

After India became independent, he was appointed as the revenue minister of the recently formed Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU). In 1972 he became the chief minister of Punjab. A freedom fighter himself, his work for the people of Punjab was impressive. Prior to his presidency, he had held several ministerial posts in the union cabinet, including that of home minister.

He was elected as the President of India on 25th July 1982 and remained in office till 25th July 1987. Even though some events like Operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh riots coloured his tenure, some decisions by him won him popularity. He refused to sign the Postal Amendment Bill in 1986, which earned him applause from the civil society.

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Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (25 July 1977 – 25 July 1982)

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the sixth President of India. He held the office from 1977 to 1982. He was a veteran statesman and administrator. He was also the first to be elected unopposed. Reddy was 64 when he was elected as the youngest President of India. He proved his humbleness through two notable gestures; one was renouncing the residency at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the other was to allow a 70 per cent cut in his salary, considering the poor economic condition of the nation in 1977.

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was born in a peasant family at Illuri village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh on 19th May 1913. Sanjiva Reddy had his early education at the Theosophical High School at Adyar in Madras. Even though he joined the Arts College at Anantapur for graduation, young Reddy gave up studies to take part in the freedom movement. He was greatly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. In 1931 he joined the Indian National Congress. He participated in a student satyagraha, which brought him into the limelight. He was jailed for participating in the Quit India Movement.

After independence, he became a member of the Constituent Assembly in 1947. He later became a member of the Rajya Sabha. He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress from 1959 to 1962. Subsequently he served as Union Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, from January 1966 to March 1967 in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Hindupur constituency. He was chosen as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on March 17th, 1967. This won him immense recognition. He served his term with such dedication and passion that he is remembered as the best ever Lok Sabha Speaker.

He became the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. Reddy was elected as the President on 21st July, 1977 and was sworn in on 25th July. He was the only candidate to have contested twice in the presidential race, one in 1969 against V.V. Girl, and then in 1977.

As the President, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy visited many states in India. He also visited many foreign lands during his term as the President like the U.S.S.R, Bulgaria, Zambia, U.K, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka etc. Reddy worked with three prime ministers, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Indira Gandhi.

Reddy authored the book Without Fear or Favour: Reminiscences and Reflections of a President. It was published in 1989. He died in 1996 at the age of 83. His samadhi is at Kallahalli, near Bangalore.

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Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (24 August 1974 – 11 February 1977)

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of India, in office from 1974 to 1977. He had keen interest in many fields such as music, fine arts, poetry and sports. He was the second President of India to die in office.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was born on 13th May 1905, at the Hauz Qazi area of Old Delhi. He attended St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge, England. He met Jawaharlal Nehru in England in 1925. Nehru’s progressive ideas influenced him very much. At Nehru’s request, he joined the Indian National Congress and actively participated in the Indian freedom struggle.

He was a member of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee from 1936. He was later appointed the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Labour in Assam. In 1942, he supported the Quit India Movement, for which he was arrested.

After India gained independence, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1952. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1967 and again in 1971.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was picked for the presidency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Thus in 1974, he became the President of India. He is known to have issued the proclamation of the Emergency by signing the papers at midnight, during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as the prime minister.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed’s tenure in the office was cut short by his sudden demise due to a heart attack which he suffered on his return from a tour of the Southeast Asian countries only a day before. He died on 11th February, 1977.

Though politics was his forte, he always showed keen interest in sports and many extracurricular activities. He was an excellent tennis player and golfer. In April 1967, he was elected as the president of the All India Cricket Association.

Though he was basically a sports enthusiast, he had excellent taste in music and fine arts too. He enjoyed the poetry of Mirza Ghalib. A medical college, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College, has been named after him at Barpeta in Assam.

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