Rajendra Prasad Quotes

Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India, in office from 1950 to 1962. He was an Indian political leader and lawyer by training. Prasad joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian Independence Movement and became a major leader from the region of Bihar. A supporter of Mahatma Gandhi, Prasad was imprisoned by British authorities during the Salt Satyagraha of 1931 and the Quit India movement of 1942. After the 1946 elections, Prasad served as Minister of Food and Agriculture in the central government. Upon independence in 1947, Prasad was elected as President of the Constituent Assembly of India, which prepared the Constitution of India and served as its provisional parliament.

When India became a republic in 1950, Prasad was elected its first president by the Constituent Assembly. Following the general election of 1951, he was elected president by the electoral college of the first Parliament of India and its state legislatures. As president, Prasad established a tradition of non-partisanship and independence for the office-bearer, and retired from Congress party politics. Although a ceremonial head of state, Prasad encouraged the development of education in India and advised the Nehru government on several occasions. In 1957, Prasad was re-elected to the presidency, becoming the only president to serve two full terms. Wikipedia  

✵ 3. December 1884 – 28. February 1963
Rajendra Prasad photo
Rajendra Prasad: 19   quotes 1   like

Famous Rajendra Prasad Quotes

“He organized the much talked about Salt Satyagraha in the state of Bihar.”

Source: Presidents of India, 1950-2003, p. 4

“Today, for the first time in our long and chequered history, we find the whole of this vast land… brought together under the jurisdiction of one constitution and one union which takes over responsibility for the welfare of more than 320 million men and women who inhabit it.”

On 26 January 1950 when took over as the President of India after it was proclained by the 34th and last Governor-General of India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari as a Republic.
Source: BBC News: 1950: India becomes a republic http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/newsid_3475000/3475569.stm, BBC News, 26 January 2005

“We have got used to relying on precedents of England to such an extent that it seems almost sacrilegious to have a different interpretation even if our conditions and circumstances might seem to require a different interpretation.”

From his speech given on 28 November 1960 at laying the foundation-stone of the building of the Law Institute of India, in: p. 16
Presidents of India, 1950-2003

“There is no resting place for a nation or a people on their onward march.”

On his becoming the first President of India after the constitution was adopted
Source: Presidents of India, 1950-2003, p. 11

Rajendra Prasad Quotes

“I feel assured in my mind that your personality will help to soothe the injured souls and bring peace and unity into an atmosphere of mistrust and chaos.”

Rabindranath Tagore in appreciation of his efforts to heal the rift between Gandhi and Subashchandra Bose due to ideological differences. He was elected President of the National Congress.
First Citizen

“All through his political career he held coveted positions.”

Source: Presidents of India, 1950-2003, P.6

“He had a very rich background and belonged to a scholarly family.”

Source: Presidents of India, 1950-2003, p. 1

“Honourable Members…I ask you, Members, to stand in your places to pay our tribute of respect to Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who by his grim determination and stead fast devotion was able to carve out and found Pakistan and whose passing away at this moment is an irreparable loss to all.”

Dr. Rajendra Prasad addressing the Constituent Assembly of India on Thursday, 4 November 1948. Constituent Assembly Debates, Book No. 2, Volume VII: 4 November 1948—8 January 1949: Lok Sabha Secretariat, 1999

Similar authors

Jawaharlal Nehru photo
Jawaharlal Nehru 110
Indian lawyer, statesman, and writer, first Prime Minister …
Mahatma Gandhi photo
Mahatma Gandhi 238
pre-eminent leader of Indian nationalism during British-rul…
Indíra Gándhí photo
Indíra Gándhí 35
Indian politician and Prime Minister
Amartya Sen photo
Amartya Sen 31
Indian economist
Sri Chinmoy photo
Sri Chinmoy 75
Indian writer and guru
Anthony de Mello photo
Anthony de Mello 135
Indian writer
C. V. Raman photo
C. V. Raman 20
Indian physicist
Sathya Sai Baba photo
Sathya Sai Baba 33
Indian guru
Elinor Ostrom photo
Elinor Ostrom 4
American political economist
Hazrat Inayat Khan photo
Hazrat Inayat Khan 37
Indian Sufi