Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Ahmed in 1976
5th President of India
In office 24 August 1974 – 11 February 1977
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Vice President	B. D. Jatti Gopal Swarup Pathak
Preceded by	V. V. Giri
Succeeded by	B. D. Jatti (acting)
Minister of Food and Agriculture
In office 27 June 1970 – 3 July 1974
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Jagjivan Ram[1]
Succeeded by	C. Subramaniam[2]
Minister of Industrial Development, Internal Trade and Company Affairs
In office 13 March 1967 – 27 June 1970
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Damodaram Sanjivayya
Succeeded by	Dinesh Singh[1]
Minister of Education
In office 13 November 1966 – 12 March 1967
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	M. C. Chagla
Succeeded by	Triguna Sen
Minister of Irrigation and Power
In office 29 January 1966 – 13 November 1966
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	K. L. Rao[3]
Succeeded by	K. L. Rao
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 3 April 1966 – 25 February 1967
Constituency	Assam
In office 3 April 1954 – 25 March 1957
Constituency	Assam
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1967–1974
Preceded by	Renuka Devi Barkataki
Succeeded by	Ismail Hossain Khan
Constituency	Barpeta, Assam
Member of the Assam Legislative Assembly
In office 1937–1946
Prime Minister	Muhammed Saadulah
Succeeded by	Moulvi Abdul Hai
Constituency	Kamrup (North)
Personal details
Born	(1905-05-13)13 May 1905 Delhi, British India (present-day India)
Died	11 February 1977(1977-02-11) (aged 71) New Delhi, Delhi, India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Begum Abida Ahmed ​ (m. 1945)​
Children	3
Alma mater	St. Stephen's College, Delhi University of Cambridge Inner Temple
Profession	Lawyer politician

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of India from 1974 to 1977.

Born in Delhi, Ahmed studied in Delhi and Cambridge and was called to the bar from the Inner Temple, London in 1928. Returning to India, he practiced law in Lahore and then in Guwahati. Beginning a long association with the Indian National Congress in the 1930s, Ahmed was finance minister of Assam in the Gopinath Bordoloi ministry in 1939. He became the Advocate General of Assam in 1946, and was finance minister again from 1957 to 1966 under Bimala Prasad Chaliha. He was made a national cabinet minister by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1966 and was in charge of various ministries including Power, Irrigation, Industries and Agriculture. He was elected president of India over Tridib Chaudhuri in 1974.

As president, Ahmed imposed The Emergency in August 1975 and gave his assent to numerous ordinances and constitutional amendments that severely restricted civil liberties and allowed Indira Gandhi to rule by decree. He supported the Emergency in public speeches. Lampooned in an iconic cartoon by Abu Abraham, Ahmed's reputation was tarnished by his support for the Emergency. He has been described as a rubber stamp president.

Ahmed died in February 1977 of a heart attack. He was accorded a state funeral and is buried in a masjid near Parliament House in New Delhi. Ahmed, who was the second Muslim to become the president of India, was also the second president to die in office. Ahmed was succeeded by B. D. Jatti as acting president and by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as the sixth president of India in 1977.