Ram Nath Kovind
Ram Nath Kovind | |
---|---|
Official portrait, 2017 | |
14th President of India | |
In office 25 July 2017 – 25 July 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
Vice President | Venkaiah Naidu Mohammad Hamid Ansari |
Preceded by | Pranab Mukherjee |
Succeeded by | Droupadi Murmu |
35th Governor of Bihar | |
In office 16 August 2015 – 20 June 2017[1] | |
Preceded by | Keshari Nath Tripathi |
Succeeded by | Keshari Nath Tripathi |
Member of Parliament | |
In office 3 April 1994 – 2 April 2006 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Village Paraunkh, Derapur, United Provinces, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India) | 1 October 1945
Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Spouse(s) | Savita Kovind (m. 1974) |
Children | Prashant Kumar (Son) Swati (Daughter) |
Parents | Maiku Lal (Father) Kalawati (Mother) |
Alma mater | Kanpur University |
Profession |
Ram Nath Kovind[2][3] (born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician.[4][5] Kovind became the 14th President of India upon winning the 2017 presidential election in July 2017. He was the second president to have been a Dalit leader[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[13][14] He was Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017.[15] He served as Member of Parliament from 1994 through 2006. Ram Nath Kovind is also prez candidate of NDA.
In June 2017, he won the nomination of the Bharatiya Janata Party for President of India in the 2017 Indian presidential election. After winning the nomination, he resigned from his post as Governor of Bihar, and President of India Pranab Mukherjee accepted his resignation on 20 June 2017.[16] According to polling after voting was closed on 17 July 2017, Kovind was expected to win the presidency with a voting outcome of 99%.[17] Kovind was declared as the winner after the counting of votes held on 20 July 2017.[18]
Early life
[change | change source]Kovind was born into a scheduled caste (Kori community), (Hindu Family), in Parakh Kanpur, Dehat District, Uttar Pradesh.
His father Maikulal Kori was a local vadiya, who operated a grocery store. His mother was Kalawati who died when he was very young.
Kovind has 4 brothers and 3 sisters and he is the youngest amongst all of them.
Kovind grew up in humble circumstances in a small agrarian village where his father farmed. After earning degrees in commerce and law from Kanpur University, he moved to Delhi in order to take the civil services examination. Although he passed, Kovind chose to begin practicing law and was admitted to the bar in 1971.
Political career
[change | change source]BJP member
[change | change source]He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1991. He was President of the BJP Dalit Morcha between 1998 and 2002 and President of the All-India Koli Samaj. He also served as national spokesperson of the party.[19] He donated his ancestral home in Derapur to the RSS. He contested from Ghatampur and Bhognipur (both in UP) assembly constituencies on the BJP ticket but lost both elections.
Rajya Sabha (1994–2006)
[change | change source]He was elected and became a Rajya Sabha MP from the state of Uttar Pradesh in April 1994. He served a total of twelve years, two consecutive terms, until March 2006. As a member of parliament, he visited Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and the United States on study tours.
Governor of Bihar (2015–2017)
[change | change source]On 8 August 2015, the President of India appointed Kovind as Governor of Bihar.[20] On 16 August 2015, the acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court, Iqbal Ahmad Ansari, administered the oath to Kovind as the 36th Governor of Bihar.[21]
As Governor, he was praised for constituting a judicial commission to investigate irregularities in promotion of undeserving teachers, mis-management of funds and appointment of undeserving candidates in universities.[21]
Kovind resigned as Governor on 20 June 2017 to peruse his campaign for President of India in the 2017 presidential election.[16]
Presidency (since 2017)
[change | change source]2017 presidential campaign
[change | change source]Kovind was nominated for the President of India for the Bharatiya Janata Party in June 2017 which led to his resignation as Governor of Bihar.[16] His opponent was former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar for the Indian National Congress.[22]
After voting ended on 17 July 2017.[23] Kovind was declared as the winner after the counting of votes held on 20 July 2017.[18][24]
Kovind secured roughly two-thirds of the votes from the electoral college of elected members of federal, state and union territory legislatures and was elected to a five-year term as President.[25]
Tenure
[change | change source]Kovind was sworn-in as President of India on 25 July 2017.[26]
Personal life
[change | change source]Kovind married Savita Kovind in 1974. They have a son, Prashant Kumar, and a daughter, Swati Kovind.
References
[change | change source]प्रेरणादायक जीवनी -रामनाथ कोविन्द [27]
- ↑ "Press Releases Detail - The President of India". presidentofindia.nic.in.
- ↑ Rashid, Omar. "Support Ram Nath Kovind, Yogi appeals to opposition". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
- ↑ "Who is Ram Nath Kovind?". The Hindu.
- ↑ Desk, The Hindu Net. "Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind is NDA nominee for post of President". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
- ↑ "Presidential Election 2017 LIVE: Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind is the NDA candidate, says Amit Shah". Firstpost. 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
- ↑ CNN, Huizhong Wu (20 July 2017). "Man from India's lowest caste elected president". CNN.
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has generic name (help) - ↑ "Presidential election: BJP picks Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind as nominee; Congress rules out consensus". The Indian Express. 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ↑ "Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind is NDA presidential candidate". theweek.in. Archived from the original on 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
- ↑ "BJP picks Bihar governor and Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind as presidential candidate, Modi dials Sonia". hindustantimes.com. 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
- ↑ "Bihar Governor, Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind NDA's prez candidate: Shah". deccanchronicle.com. 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
- ↑ "Why NDA chose Bihar Governor Kovind, a Dalit leader, as President nominee". www.business-standard.com. Business Standard.
- ↑ "Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind's run from court to Raisina Hills". www.thestatesman.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ↑ "BJP appoints Dalit governor eyeing backward votes as Owaisi hints at jumping into Bihar fray to woo Muslims".
- ↑ "Raj Bhavan for man who shunned TV".
- ↑ Ram Nath Kovind resigns as Bihar Governor (20 June 2017). "Ram Nath Kovind resigns as Bihar Governor". The Hindu. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "Resignation as Governor of Bihar". firstpost. 2015-08-20. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
- ↑ "Presidential Election Sees Nearly 99% Voting, Ram Nath Kovind Set For Easy Win: 10 Points". NDTV. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "With 65% votes, Ram Nath Kovind is the next President of India - Rediff.com India News". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
- ↑ "Enact tougher laws to prevent crimes against dalits". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
- ↑ PTI (8 August 2015). "Ram Nath Kovind, Acharya Dev Vrat appointed as Bihar and Himachal Pradesh governors" – via The Economic Times.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "36th Governor of Bihar". indiatoday. 2015-08-16. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
- ↑ "Prez Poll: Close to 99% voting recorded, BJP confident of victory for Ram Nath Kovind". DNAIndia. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- ↑ "Ram Nath Kovind: Man from India's 'Untouchable' Dalit caste expected become the president". Independent. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- ↑ "Ram Nath Kovind elected Indias 14th President, to take oath on July 25". Retrieved 2017-07-20.
- ↑ "Ram Nath Kovind is the 14th President of India". The Hindu. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- ↑ "Ram Nath Kovind takes oath as India's 14th President". indtoday.com. 2017-07-25.
- ↑ "Teach About Success". Teach About Success. Retrieved 2022-07-22.