Spouse of the President of India

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The Spouse of the President of India is the unofficial title and position traditionally held by the wife or husband of the President of India during that person's term of office. There are no official roles or duties assigned to the spouse but he or she generally attends the official ceremonies and functions held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan along with the President.

The position of First Lady of India is currently vacant. Former First Lady Suvra Mukherjee, the wife of President Pranab Mukherjee, died in office on 18 August 2015.[1]

Before Pratibha Patil was sworn in as the first female President of India, the role of the wives of the President were to act as the chief hostess of the Bhavan and they were generally referred to as the "First Lady". In 2007 the office room meant for the First Lady went for some minor changes to accommodate the husband of Pratibha Patil, Devisingh Shekhawat. Since then, the term "First Lady" is less frequently used and instead informally referred as the President's wife/spouse/husband.[2]

The role should not be confused with the spouse of the Prime Minister of India.

List of the Spouses of the President of India

Sl nbr
Name
President
Tenure began
Tenure ended
Reason of tenure end
Notes
01.01 Rajvanshi Devi[3]
ja
Rajendra Prasad January 26, 1950 May 12, 1962 President's end of tenure
02.02 Vacant
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan May 13, 1962 May 13, 1967 President was a widower Sivakamu Radhakrishnan, wife of Dr. Radhakrishnan died at home in Madras in 1956, before her husband became President. She was the Second Lady of India at the time of her death.[4]
03.03 Shahjehan Begum[5]
Zakir Husain May 13, 1967 May 3, 1969 President Husain died in office
03.5# Saraswati Bai
V. V. Giri May 3, 1969 July 20, 1969 Acting President Acting First Lady
03.6# Pushpa Shah
Mohammad Hidayatullah May 20, 1969 August 24, 1969 Acting President Acting First Lady. Second Lady of India from 1979–1984
04.04 Saraswati Bai[6]
Varahagiri Venkata Giri August 24, 1969 August 24, 1974 President's end of tenure
05.05 Begum Abida Ahmed
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed August 24, 1974 February 11, 1977 President's death
05.5#  ?
B. D. Jatti February 11, 1977 July 25, 1977 Acting President
06.06 Neelam Nagaratnamma[7]
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy July 25, 1977 July 25, 1982 President's end of tenure Neelam Nagaratnamma died on 11 January 2010[7]
07.07 Pradhan Kaur[8]
[9]
Giani Zail Singh July 25, 1982 July 25, 1987 President's end of tenure
08.08 Janaki Venkataraman
Ramaswamy Venkataraman July 25, 1987 July 25, 1992 President's end of tenure India's first foreign born (Burma) First Lady
09.09 Vimala Sharma[10]
Shankar Dayal Sharma July 25, 1992 July 25, 1997 President's end of tenure
10.010 Usha Narayanan (Tint Tint)
Kocheril Raman Narayanan July 25, 1997 July 25, 2002 President's end of tenure India's second foreign born (Myanmar) First Lady[11]
11.011 Unmarried
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam July 25, 2002 July 25, 2007 President never married President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was India's first bachelor president[12]
12.012 Devisingh Ransingh Shekhawat
Pratibha Patil July 25, 2007 July 25, 2012 President's end of tenure Shekhawat was India's first First Gentleman
13.013 Suvra Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee July 25, 2012 August 18, 2015 Died in office on 18 August 2015[1] Suvra Mukherjee is the first First Lady to die during her husband's presidency.
13.5# Vacant Pranab Mukherjee August 18, 2015 Present Position is vacant following the death of former First Lady Suvra Mukherjee

See also

References

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