Bangalore: Over the six decades since India became a ‘republic’, the nation is addressed by the President of India on Republic Day Eve every year. Now, we are celebrating 63 years of being a Republic. The customary Presidential Address to the Nation speaks of India’s progressive moves and current challenges on different national issues along with the Nations’ expectations on coming years. Here, we have compiled a list of speeches by 5 Indian Presidents on the Republic Day Eve.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963):

Term of Office: 26 January 1950 to 13 May 1962

First president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad has his name written as the pioneers of Indian republic and he is the one who drafted India’s first constitution. Apart from all, among all 12 Presidents till today, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the only one who has been elected twice as the President of India. Being the key campaigner of Gandhi’s Independence Movement, his dedicated life for India’s progress has always sounded in his speech. The ever first Indian Republic day speech by Dr. Rajendra Prasad first addressed the crowd in Hindi and then in English. He said, "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."

He addressed Republic Day as a ‘day of dedications than of rejoicing’ in one of his republic day speeches. And he proved it while take all his will power to take the Republic Day salute even when his dearly- loved sister Bhagwati Devi died on the night of January 25, 1960. In his special message to the Nation, he said “We must re-dedicate ourselves on this day to the peaceful but sure realisation of the dream that had inspired the father of our nation(Mahatma Gandhi) and the other captains and soldiers of our freedom struggle, the dream of establishing a classless, co-operative, free and happy society."  He added, "We must remember that this is more a day of dedications than of rejoicing - dedication to the glorious task of making the peasants and workers, the toilers and the thinkers fully free, happy and cultured.”