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Oath or Affirmation by the President
Before entering upon his office, the President has to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation. In his oath, the President swears:
1. to faithfully execute the office;
2. to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law; and
3. to devote himself to the service and well-being of the people of India.
Table 17.1 Elections of the Presidents (1952–2017)
Sl.
No.
Election Year
Victorious Candidate
No. of Votes
Main Rival Candidate
No. of Votes
secured secured (%) (%) | |||||
1. | 1952 | Dr. Rajendra Prasad | 507400 (83.81) | K.T. Shah | 92827 (15.3) |
2. | 1957 | Dr. Rajendra Prasad | 459698 (99.35) | N.N. Das | 2000 (0.4) |
3. | 1962 | Dr. S. Radhakrishnan | 553067 (98.24) | Ch.Hari Ram | 6341 (1.1) |
4. | 1967 | Dr. Zakir Hussain | 471244 (56.23) | K. Subba Rao | 363971 (43.4) |
5. | 1969 | V.V. Giri | 420077 (50.22) | N. Sanjeeva Reddy | 405427 (48.5) |
6. 1974 Fakhruddin Ali 756587 Tridev 189186 Ahmed (80.18) Chaudhuri (19.8) | |||||
7. 1977 N. Sanjeeva — Unopposed — Reddy | |||||
8. | 1982 | Giani Zail Singh | 754113 (72.73) | H.R. Khanna | 282685 (27.6) |
9. | 1987 | R. Venkataraman | 740148 (72.29) | V.Krishna Ayyer | 281550 (27.1) |
10. 1992 Dr. Shankar 675564 George Swell 346485 Dayal Sharma (65.86) (33.21) | |||||
11. | 1997 | K.R. Narayanan | 956290 (94.97) | T.N. Sheshan | 50431 (5.07) |
12. | 2002 | Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam | 922844 (89.58) | Laxmi Sehgal | 107366 (10.42) |
13. | 2007 | Ms. Pratibha Patil | 638116 (65.82) | B.S. Shekhawat | 331306 (34.17) |
14. | 2012 | Pranab Mukherjee | 713763 (68.12) | P.A. Sangma | 315987 (30.15) |
15. 2017 Ram Nath 702044 Meira Kumar 367314 Kovind (65.65) (34.35) | |||||
The oath of office to the President is administered by the Chief Justice of India and in his absence, the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court available.
Any other person acting as President or discharging the functions of the President also undertakes the similar oath or affirmation.