The nation is going for a Presidential election with all the surprises which politics can throw up. There has been lot of political activity in selection of possible candidates by different political parties.
With support declared (as per media) by various political entities, election of Mr Ram Nath Kovind appears to be a foregone conclusion. Considerable time, energy and resources will probably be going into the process of presidential election.
Out of the thirteen elected Presidents India has had so far (see table below), Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1977-82) was the only unopposed President and Rajendra Prasad was the only President to have two consecutive terms.
 

Sl	Name	Dt of taking Office	Dt of leaving Office	Remarks
1	Rajendra Prasad	26.01.1950	12.05.1962	Only President who served two terms
2	S Radhakrishnan	13.05.1962	13.05.1967
3	Zakir Hussain	13.05.1967	03.05.1969	Died in Office
	V V Giri	03.05.1969	20.07.1969	Acting President
	Mohammad Hidayatullah	20.07.1969	24.08.1969	CJI as Acting President
4	V V Giri	24.08.1969	24.08.1974
5	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	24.08.1974	11.02.1977	Proclaimed Emergency, Died in Office
	B D Jatti	11.02.1977	25.07.1977	Acting President
6	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	25.07.1977	25.07.1982	Won unopposed.
7	Giani Zail Singh	25.07.1982	25.07.1987
8	R Venkataraman	25.07.1987	25.07.1992
9	Shankar Dayal Sharma	25.07.1992	25.07.1997
10	K R Narayanan	25.07.1997	25.07.2002
11	A P J Abdul Kalam	25.07.2002	25.07.2007
12	Pratibha Patil	25.07.2007	25.07.2012
13	Pranab Mukherjee	25.07.2012	Continues

 
 
Wish list that comes to mind-
1.      Our President should be free to act as per conscience and not be bound by the advice of the          government.  One shudders when reminded of the way President Mr Fakhruddin Ali                  Ahmed was made to sign the proclamation of Emergency.
2.      Presidents should not allow Ordinances to be easy route for enacting laws. This route                  should be used in exceptional cases as it undermines Parliament.
3.      Selection of Presidential candidates should be beyond considerations of religion, caste or            gender.
4.      Proven administrative skills, legal understanding , fairness in dealing and courageous to              stand up for what is good for the nation are the qualities which should be in a potential              candidate. For example one elected just because of being a famous scientist may not be              able to do justice to this office as often they are required to deal with rogue elements.
 
Choosing a President is a serious matter and our leaders should put up credible candidates for electing the fourteenth President.