Rajendra Prasad and Zakir Husain: The tale of India's longest and shortest-serving presidents

India is all set to get its 15th president as the elections to choose the next head of the country kicked off on Monday . In the race to Rashtrapati Bhavan are National Democratic Alliance’s candidate Droupadi Murmu and Opposition’s Yashwant Sinha. The voting began at 10 am and will conclude by 5 in the evening. The polling will take place in the Parliament and state legislative Assemblies. In the elections, a total of 776 Members of Parliament and 4,033 members of legislative Assemblies will cast their votes, according to a Times of India report. The current President, Ram Nath Kovind’s tenure will conclude on 24 July. The counting of votes will take place on 21 July and the next president will take oath on 25 July. As the presidential elections are currently underway, we take a closer look at the longest and the shortest serving presidents of India. Rajendra Prasad: 1950-1962 India’s journey as an independent nation started with Dr Rajendra Prasad as the President. Born on 3 December, 1884 in Ziradei that is located in present-day Bihar, Prasad was a lawyer by profession. He also played an important role in the Indian independence movement. Dr Prasad was unanimously elected as the President of the Constituent Assembly on 11 December 1946. Before this, he was a Cabinet Minister under Jawaharlal Nehru’s first ministry formed before independence. He joined the Indian National Congress during the independence movement. In 1917, he was inspired by the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in the ‘Champaran Satyagraha’ which was organised to liberate indigo planters from the exploitation of the British. Prasad gave up his career as a lawyer to join the independence movement three years later when the non-cooperation movement finally commenced against the British rule in response to the Rowlatt Act of 1918 and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. [caption id=“attachment_10925101” align=“alignnone” width=“600”]  Rajendra Prasad was unanimously elected as the President of the Constituent Assembly on 11 December 1946. News18[/caption] Prasad was among the many freedom fighters who were imprisoned during the struggle movement. He was first jailed during the salt satyagraha in 1930 and again in 1942 for being a part of the ‘Quit India’ movement. His expertise was used as the building block of the Indian Constitution. By 24 January 1950, he was elected as the provisional President of the Republic of India. He was re-elected as the President in the 1952 and 1957 elections, making his tenure the longest. As a President, Dr Prasad presided over the inauguration of the Somnath temple at Junagadh State in Gujarat. Nehru, who did not support the idea of restoring the temple, contested Prasad’s participation at the event, according to an article in Star of Mysore. Despite his advice to the President “against participating in a significant function which unfortunately has a number of implications”, Prasad said, “I would do the same with a mosque or a church if I were invited.” Prasad, who was called “ajatha shatru” or a person with no enemies, received the highest civilian award — Bharat Ratna — in 1962. He died on 28 February, at the age of 78, which effectively ended his tenure as the first president of India. Zakir Husain: 1967-1969 With 12 years and 107 days, Dr Rajendra Prasad has had the longest tenure. On the other hand, Dr Zakir Husain, who served as the third Indian president and was the first Muslim to occupy the chair, had the shortest tenure in Indian history. Born on 8 February, 1897 in Hyderabad, Husain had a keen interest in politics from a very early age of his life. [caption id=“attachment_10925121” align=“alignnone” width=“600”]  Dr Zakir Husain held the president’s office from 1967 till his death in 1969. AFP[/caption] According to The Print, Husain’s idea of politics was subservient to the importance of education. He started his education in a residential school called Sultan Bazar High School. After completing his schooling, he joined Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College, which later came to be known as the Aligarh Muslim University. He then briefly took up the profession of a teacher from 1920 to 1922 at Jamia Milia University. He soon moved to Germany where he acquired a PhD degree in Economics. Upon returning to India, he decided to employ a different approach to the freedom struggle of India by employing education as a tool. As an educator, he propagated the message of Mahatma Gandhi. Dr Husain re-joined Jamia Milia University in 1926, this time serving as the vice-chancellor. In 1952, he joined the Upper House of the Parliament. From 1956 to 1958, he was also the part of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) executive board. In 1957, he was appointed as the Governor of Bihar, a post he held till 1952, after which he became the vice-president. In 1967, as the Congress party’s official candidate, he was appointed as the Indian President. Dr Zakir Husain held the president’s office from 1967 till his death in 1969. He also holds the honour of being the first President in India to die in office. After him, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed also died in office on 11 February 1977. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.