India's 14th President: Ramnath Kovind

Indias 14th President: Ramnath Kovind
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Highlights

Ramnath Kovind is all set to take oath as India’s 14th President at a grand ceremony in New Delhi today.

Ramnath Kovind has taken the oath as India’s 14th President at a grand ceremony in New Delhi today.

The NDA candidate and former Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind garnered massive support from various parties and allies across the country which led to a victory over Opposition's pick Meira Kumar by a clear margin of 65.6 percent votes translating into 702,044 electoral college votes, while Congress party candidate Meira Kumar managed to get 34.35 per cent - 367,314 votes.

He will be India's second Dalit president after KR Narayanan. Coming from a modest family in Uttar Pradesh, Ram Nath Kovind was the youngest among three brothers.

Born on October 1, 1945, in Kanpur Dehat, Ram Nath Kovind graduated in law from a Kanpur college. After failing to clear the Indian Administrative Services twice, he made it in the third attempt but as he was selected for the allied services, Kovind started practising the law.

He married Savita Kovind on 30th May, 1974 and has a son Prashant Kumar, and a daughter, Swati.

He has donned several roles in public life.

Kovind became a member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in April 1994 and served as an MP for two consecutive terms for 12 years until March 2006.

An advocate by profession, he even practiced in Supreme Court and Delhi High Court for about 16 years until 1993.

Kovind also represented India in the United Nations in New York where he addressed United Nations General Assembly in October 2002.

He was appointed governor of Bihar on August 8, 2015.

Known as the crusader for the Rights of Weaker Sections of the society particularly the specially Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBC, Minority, Land women since his early days, Kovind participated in the movement of SC/ST employees against the Central Government in 1997 when orders were issued that adversely affected them.

He served as a member of the Board of Management of Dr. BR Ambedkar University in Lucknow and a member of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata.

During his 12-year tenure in the parliament, Kovind brought focus on the development of basic infrastructure for education in rural areas through construction of school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand under MPLAD scheme.

He worked as the private secretary of then Prime Minister Morarji Desai in 1977 and also served as national spokesperson of BJP.

Despite not being the unanimous selection as the President, Ramnath Kovind garnered support even from various opposition parties including JD(U) and BJD.

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