India is a democratic country, and the President is the head of state and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President of India is elected by an Electoral College comprising elected members of both houses of Parliament, and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. Since independence, India has had 14 Presidents. Out of these, only one President, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, was elected unopposed.
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the sixth President of India, and he served from 1977 to 1982. He was elected unopposed in 1977 after the opposition parties decided not to nominate any candidate against him. This was the first time in India's history that a Presidential election was held without any opposition.
Reddy was born on May 19, 1913, in Illur, a village in the present-day Andhra Pradesh. He started his political career as a member of the Indian National Congress and was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1946. He served as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1960 to 1962 and later as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1967 to 1969. Reddy was known for his integrity and commitment to democratic values.
In 1977, Reddy was nominated as the candidate of the ruling Janata Party for the Presidential election. The opposition parties were not in a position to field a candidate against him as they were still reeling from the defeat in the general election held a few months earlier. The Janata Party had won a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, and its candidate was expected to win the Presidential election comfortably. However, to everyone's surprise, Reddy was elected unopposed as the opposition parties did not want to contest the election.
Reddy's tenure as President was marked by his impartiality and his commitment to upholding the Constitution. He played a crucial role in resolving the political crisis that arose after the Janata Party government fell in 1979. He used his powers as the President to ensure that a stable government was formed, and the country did not plunge into chaos.
