List of heads of state of India - wikipedia List of heads of state of India India This article is part of a series on the politics and government of India Constitution and law Constitutional amendment Basic structure doctrine Fundamental rights Human rights -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 Uniform civil code Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 Indian Penal Code Law enforcement Government of India President ( Head of state ) Vice president -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Executive : Prime minister ( Head of government ) Union Council of Ministers Cabinet secretary Secretaries : ( Defence Finance Foreign Home ) Civil services All India Services ( IAS IFS / IFoS IPS ) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Legislature : Parliament Rajya Sabha ( Chairman ) Lok Sabha ( Speaker ) Judiciary : Supreme court ( Chief justice ) High courts ( Chief justices ) District courts Elections Election commission : Chief Election Commissioner ( Election commissioners ) Recent general elections : 2009 2014 2019 Recent state elections : 2017 2018 2019 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Political parties National parties State parties National coalitions : National Democratic Alliance ( NDA ) United Progressive Alliance ( UPA ) Federalism Administrative divisions -- -- -- -- -- -- -- State governments Governor Chief minister Chief secretary ( Principal secretaries ) Field - level officers Divisional commissioners District magistrates Sub-divisional magistrates Legislatures : Vidhan Sabha Vidhan Parishad -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Local governments : Rural bodies : District councils Block panchayats Gram Panchayats Urban bodies : Municipal corporations Municipal councils Nagar panchayats Other countries Atlas This is a list of the heads of state of India, from the independence of India in 1947 to the present day. From 1947 to 1950 the head of state under the Indian Independence Act 1947 was King of India, 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. Contents 1 Monarch ( 1947 -- 1950 ) 1.1 Governor - General 2 President of India 3 Standards 4 Living former heads of state 5 External links Monarch ( 1947 -- 1950 ) The succession to the throne was the same as the succession to the British throne. No Monarch ( Birth -- Death ) Portrait Reign Royal House Prime Minister Reign start Reign end King George VI ( 1895 -- 1952 ) 15 August 1947 26 January 1950 Windsor Nehru Governor - General 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. Status Denotes Chief Justice acting as Officer Administering the Government No Governor - General ( Birth -- Death ) Portrait Tenure Monarch Prime Minister Took office Left office The Rt. Hon. The Earl Mountbatten of Burma ( 1900 -- 1979 ) 15 August 1947 21 June 1948 George VI Nehru Chakravarti Rajagopalachari ( 1878 -- 1972 ) 21 June 1948 26 January 1950 George VI Nehru President of India Under the Constitution, of the Republic of India, the President replaced the Monarch as ceremonial head of state. The President was elected by the Electoral College for a five - year term. In the event of a vacancy the Vice-President served as Acting President. Status Denotes Vice-President acting as President No President ( Birth -- Death ) Portrait Tenure Elected Political affiliation ( at time of appointment ) Prime Minister Took office Left office Rajendra Prasad ( 1884 -- 1963 ) 26 January 1950 13 May 1962 1952 1957 Indian National Congress Nehru Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan ( 1888 -- 1975 ) 13 May 1962 13 May 1967 1962 Independent Nehru Nanda Shastri Nanda Gandhi 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 -- Gandhi 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. ) 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 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 ( 1934 -- ) 25 July 2007 25 July 2012 2007 Indian National Congress Singh 13 Pranab Mukherjee ( 1935 -- ) 25 July 2012 25 July 2017 2012 Indian National Congress Singh Modi 13 Ram Nath Kovind ( 1945 -- ) 25 July 2017 Incumbent 2017 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi Standards Governor - General 's Standard Presidential Standard Living former heads of state There are two 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 83 ) Pranab Mukherjee 2012 -- 2017 President of India ( 1935 - 12 - 11 ) 11 December 1935 ( age 82 ) External links Jump up ^ Was Chief Justice of India World Statesmen -- India Rulers.org -- India Heads of State of India King ( 1947 -- 1950 ) George VI † President ( from 1950 ) Prasad Radhakrishnan Hussain Giri * Hidayatullah * Giri Ahmed Jatti * Reddy Singh Venkataraman Sharma Narayanan Kalam Patil Mukherjee † Formerly Emperor of India until 22 June 1948 * Acting President Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_heads_of_state_of_India&oldid=838838949 '' Categories : Government of India Lists of political office - holders in India Presidents of India Lists of heads of state Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 29 April 2018, at 16 : 31. 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Question: who is the head of the nation in india
Answer: Ram Nath Kovind