On the occasion of 14th Presidential election, remembering 1st President of India, Rajendra Prasad

Rajendra Prasad was a lawyer by training and in the year 1916, he joined the High Court of Bihar and Odisha. (Image: First President of India, Rajendra Prasad/Courtesy Wikipedia)

New Delhi: We are all set to elect 14th President of India and there is a fight between NDA nominee Ramnath Kovind and UPA candidate Meira Kumar. The result will be out at 5 pm on Thursday. Since all this time, Indian democracy has come a long way and elected 13 Presidents already. However, on this occasion, it will not be wrong to remember the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad. Here are some important things about first President of India, Rajendra Prasad:

• Rajendra Prasad was a lawyer by training and in the year 1916, he joined the High Court of Bihar and Odisha.
• He, in 1957, was re-elected to the presidency, becoming the only president to have been in the office twice.
• After the 1946 elections, before independence, he served as minister of food and agriculture in the central government.
• Rajendra Prasad joined the Indian National Congress (INC) during the Indian independence movement.
• He was a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi.
• He was imprisoned by British authorities during the Salt Satyagraha (1931) and the Quit India movement (1942).
• When India became a Republic in 1950, he was elected its first President by the Constituent Assembly.
• As President of India, Prasad established a tradition of non-partisanship and independence for the office-bearer, and retired from Congress party politics.
• Rajendra Prasad was subsequently awarded the Bharat Ratna.
• Rajendra Prasad died on 28 February 1963.
• Rajendra Smriti Sangrahalaya in Patna is dedicated to him.