The first Vice-President of India to be elected President on the count of second-preference votes was:

Giri. In the presidential election of 1969, V.V. Giri, who had been Vice-President, won the election on the counting of second-preference votes. He is the only President so far whose victory depended on second preferences.

Background of the 1969 election:

V.V. Giri resigned as Vice-President to contest the presidential election as an independent candidate.

The Congress split:

• The official Congress candidate was Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.
• Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not openly support him and called for a "conscience vote".
• Many Congress members voted for Giri.
• This led to a split in the Congress party later that year.

How the election was decided:

• No candidate got the required quota of first-preference votes in the first count.
• Second-preference votes of the eliminated candidates were then transferred.
• After this transfer, Giri crossed the quota and was declared elected.

How the President is elected:

• The President is elected by an electoral college of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the state Legislative Assemblies, including those of Delhi and Puducherry.
• The election follows the single transferable vote system, with each voter marking preferences.
• To win, a candidate must secure more than half of the total value of valid votes, called the quota.

Giri's term:

He served as President from August 1969 to August 1974.

Giri's background:

He was a trade union leader, Governor of several states and Vice-President before becoming President.

Other Vice-Presidents who became President:

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Zakir Husain, R. Venkataraman, Shankar Dayal Sharma and K.R. Narayanan also became President after being Vice-President, but they won on first preferences.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Zakir Husain, Radhakrishnan and Venkataraman won on first-preference votes.