Mokx71 at 18:59, 26 October 2025

2025-10-26T18:59:54Z

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{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1950 Indian presidential election
| country = India
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| next_election = 1952 Indian presidential election
| next_year = 1952
| election_date = 24 January 1950
| image1 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Food Minister Rajendra Prasad during a radio broadcast in Dec 1947 cropped.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=100|cHeight=120|oLeft=12|oTop=07}}
| nominee1 = [[Rajendra Prasad]]
| party1 = Indian National Congress
| home_state1 = [[Bihar]]
| electoral_vote1 = '''Unopposed'''
| title = [[List of governors-general of India|Governor-General]]
| before_election = [[Chakravarti Rajagopalachari]]
| before_party = Indian National Congress
| posttitle = [[List of presidents of India|President]]
| after_election = [[Rajendra Prasad]]
| after_party = Indian National Congress
}}
Elections for the post of the first '''president of India''' were to be held on 24 January 1950. There was only one nominee for the post, [[Rajendra Prasad]] and he was elected, unopposed, as the [[President of India|President]].<ref name=constituentAssembly24Jan1950>{{cite web |url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1810361/ |title=Constituent Assembly Debates On 24 January, 1950 |date=24 January 1950 |author= |access-date= 10 January 2022 |quote=I have to inform honourable Members that only one nomination paper has been received for the office of the President of India. The name of that candidate is Dr. Rajendra Prasad. ... His nomination has been proposed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ... and seconded by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ... I hereby declare Dr. Rajendra Prasad to be duly elected to the Office of President of India}}</ref><ref name=archive.org>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ConstituentAssemblyDebates9thDecember1946-24thJanuary1950/page/n6749/mode/2up?q=nomination&view=theater |title=Constituent Assembly Debates 9th December, 1946 - 24th January, 1950 |author=Constituent Assembly |volume=XII|page=6749}}</ref><ref name=MG>{{cite news |url=https://dfg-viewer.de/show?tx_dlf%5Bdouble%5D=0&tx_dlf%5Bid%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fpm20.zbw.eu%2Ffolder%2Fpe%2F0137xx%2F013799%2Fpublic.mets&tx_dlf%5Bpage%5D=4&cHash=a4ab30cfaf8b5dee0c9fb21673017ea3 |title=India's First President |newspaper=[[Manchester Guardian]] |date=24 January 1950 |location=Delhi |access-date=10 January 2002}}</ref>

==Details==
The [[Constituent Assembly of India]] met for the last time on 24 January 1950, two days before the [[Constitution of India|Constitution]] came into effect on the 26th. On that day, they declared that the song [[Jana Gana Mana]] was the [[national anthem]] of India, signed a [[Hindi]] copy of the constitution and voted in a new President. Prasad had been the president of the [[Constituent Assembly of India|Constituent Assembly]] from December 1946. He was proposed to be the first Indian president by [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and was seconded by [[Vallabhbhai Patel]].<ref name=MG /> There were no other nominations and hence the secretary of the assembly, [[H. V. R. Iengar]] declared that Rajendra Prasad was considered to be duly elected to the office of President of India.

[[File:Rajendra Prasad readies to take part in the first Republic Day parade.jpg|thumb|President Rajendra Prasad (in the horse-drawn carriage) readies to take part in the first Republic Day parade on Rajpath, New Delhi, in 1950]]
He was sworn in on the first [[Republic Day]], 26 January 1950, by the [[Governor-General of India]], [[C. Rajagopalachari]], in the presence of the [[Chief Justice of India]], [[Harilal Jekisundas Kania]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r2C2InxI0xAC |title=Presidents of India, 1950-2003 |author=Janak Raj Jai |publisher=Daya Books |year=2003 |isbn=818749865X |quote=.. the oath of office was taken by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President-elect of India, in the presence of the Chief Justice of India, as prescribed by the Constitution.}}</ref> Prasad's sister, Bhagwati Devi, had died the previous day, 25 January. He attended her [[cremation]] after the founding and swearing-in ceremony.<ref>{{cite web |title=Know About Dr Rajendra Prasad: A Brilliant Scholar And The First President |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/dr-rajendra-prasad-birth-anniversary-interesting-facts-about-the-scholar-teacher-and-the-first-president-of-india-2332409 |editor=Debjani Chatterjee |date=1 December 2020 |quote=After his sister died on January 25, 1950, a day ahead of the historic moment when the Indian Constitution was going to come into force, Dr Rajendra Prasad attended the cremation only after the founding ceremony of the Republic of India.}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[1952 Indian presidential election]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Indian presidential elections}}

[[Category:1950 in India]]
[[Category:Presidential elections in India]]
[[Category:Uncontested elections|Indian presidential election, 1950]]
[[Category:1950 elections in India]]

1950 Indian presidential election - Revision history

Mokx71 at 18:59, 26 October 2025