National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and had thirteen constituent parties. Its chairman was Late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Also representing the alliance are L. K. Advani, former Deputy Prime Minister, who is the acting chairman of the Alliance, Narendra Modi, current Prime Minister and Leader of the House in Lok Sabha; and Arun Jaitley, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and Finance minister. The coalition ruled from 1998 to 2004. The alliance returned to power in the 2014 General election with a combined vote share of 38.5%. Its leader, Narendra Modi, was sworn in as Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014.
List of Presidents of India
There have been 14 Presidents of India since the post was established when India was declared as a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950. Apart from these fourteen, three Acting Presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. Varahagiri Venkata Giri became the Acting President in 1969 after Zakir Husain, died in office. Giri was elected President a few months later. He remains the only person to have held office both as a President and Acting President. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.
Seven Presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. Six of these were active party members of the Indian National Congress. The Janata Party has had one member, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who later became President. Two Presidents, Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office. Their Vice-Presidents served as Acting Presidents until a new President was elected. Following Zakir Husain's death, two acting Presidents held office until the new President, V. V. Giri, was elected. When Giri resigned to take part in the presidential elections, he was succeeded by Mohammad Hidayatullah as acting President. The 12th President, Pratibha Patil, is the first woman to serve as President of India, elected in 2007.