Who is Ram Nath Kovind,
India's new President?
Ram Nath Kovind was elected as India’s 14th
President of India. He will be only the second Dalit leader after K R Narayanan
since Independence to occupy India’s highest ceremonial post. In the final vote
count, NDA nominee Kovind received 65.6% votes translating into 702,044
electoral college votes, while UPA candidate Meira Kumar managed to get 34.35% (367,314
votes). 522 MPs voted for Kovind, while 225 parliamentarians voted for Meira
Kumar. In the last Presidential polls held in 2012, Pranab Mukherjee had
defeated PA Sangma by over 69% votes.
Addressing media after his victory at his
residence in Delhi, the President elect said, his elevation to the highest
office is a message for the people who work with honesty. Mr. Kovind said, he
will represent the working class and poor sections of society in the Rashtrapati
Bhavan. Mr. Kovind thanked everyone who supported him and also the opposition
candidate Meira Kumar.
Who is Ram
Nath Kovind?
Ram Nath Kovind was born on October 1, 1945,
in Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh. He was an advocate by profession and had
practiced in Supreme Court and Delhi High Court.
He also had served as national spokesperson of
BJP. He was also former President of the BJP Dalit Morcha (1998-2002) and also
President of the All-India Koli Samaj as well as the SC/ST representative at
IIM-Calcutta. He also had represented India in United Nations in New York and
addressed United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in October 2002. He also had
worked as the private secretary of then Prime Minister Morarji Desai in
1977.
During his parliamentary tenure, Mr. Kovind
emphasised on development of basic infrastructure for education in rural areas
and helped in the construction of school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and
Uttrakhand under MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) Scheme. He
has served as a member of several parliamentary committees, including the
Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Parliamentary
Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, among others.
Mr. Kovind served as a member of the Board of
Management of Dr. B.R Ambedkar University, Lucknow. He was also a member of the
Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.
