V.V. Giri

India’s fourth President is the only person ever elected to the office as an independent candidate — and the only person to have first served as Acting President, then won election to the post outright. This article covers V.V. Giri’s life and presidency.

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Polity0073 · Indian Polity and Constitution

V.V. Giri

The only President who first held the job as Acting President, then won it outright

1923

Co-founds a railway workers’ union

Helps found the All India Railwaymen’s Federation, launching a long trade-union career.

May 1969

Becomes Acting President

Steps in the same day President Zakir Husain dies in office.

Aug 1969

Wins the Presidency, as an independent

Resigns as Acting President to run, then defeats the official Congress candidate.

1975

Awarded the Bharat Ratna

Recognised a year after leaving office. He dies in 1980.

One Ordinance, Then Resignation

Just before stepping down as Acting President, Giri promulgated the ordinance nationalising 14 major banks — then resigned to contest, and win, the very election that followed.

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Must Know

• Varahagiri Venkata Giri (V.V. Giri) was India’s fourth President, serving from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974.
• He is the only person elected President of India as an independent candidate, with no party’s official backing.
• Born on 10 August 1894 in Berhampur, Odisha, he served as Vice President of India from 1967 to 1969.
• When President Dr. Zakir Husain died in office in May 1969, Giri took over as Acting President the same day.
• He resigned as Acting President in July 1969 to contest the presidential election himself — and won it a month later.

Good to Know

• Before entering politics, Giri studied law in Ireland at University College Dublin. He was expelled from Ireland in 1916 over suspected links to the Irish nationalist movement.
• He was a founding figure of India’s trade union movement. He co-founded the All India Railwaymen’s Federation in 1923, and later led the All India Trade Union Congress.
• He served as India’s Labour Minister from 1952 to 1954, and later as a state Governor before becoming Vice President.
• In the closely contested 1969 presidential election, he defeated the official Congress candidate, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, with the support of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
• He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1975, a year after leaving office. He died in 1980.

Test Yourself

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1. V.V. Giri is the only President of India ever elected as a(n) ____ candidate.

Congress

independent

Janata

Swatantra

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Great to Know

• Immediately before resigning as Acting President, Giri promulgated the ordinance that nationalised 14 major banks — a major economic policy decision, made by an office not directly elected at the time.
• The bitterly fought 1969 election split the Indian National Congress. Party leaders backed Reddy, but Indira Gandhi openly supported Giri, and the resulting rift produced the breakaway Congress (O).
• Giri’s career shows the widest span of any Indian President — from a deported law student and trade union organiser, to Acting President by constitutional succession, to independently elected Head of State.