Ram Nath Kovind, 14th President of India

Succeeding Pranab Mukherjee, Kovind- the second Dalit after KR Narayanan- will be sworn in as the 14th president of India on July 25.

BJP-led NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind registered an emphatic win over his rival and Opposition candidate Meira Kumar. Succeeding Pranab Mukherjee, Kovind will be sworn in as the 14th president of India on July 25.

Kovind will be the seventh youngest person to be anointed to the coveted post. He is also the second Dalit after KR Narayanan to adorn the coveted post. He is the first President from Uttar Pradesh.

On June 19, BJP's Parliamentary Board decided to field Kovind as NDA's presidential candidate. He was Bihar governor then. Subsequently, Kovind resigned as governor to contest the presidential election which was held on July 17.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RAM NATH KOVIND

Born on October 1, 1945 in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat, Ram Nath Kovind was a lawyer by profession. He practised as an advocate for the Central Government at Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979. He was a permanent advocate for the Centre at the Supreme Court between 1980 and 1993.

The BJP-led Centre had appointed Ram Nath Kovind, 76, as Bihar Governor in August 2015 with a view to wooing the Dalits in the state Assembly elections held in December that year.

Ram Nath Kovind was a Rajya Sabha member between 1994 and 2006 from Uttar Pradesh. As Rajya Sabha MP, he visited Thailand, Nepal, Germany, Switzerland, France, United Kingdom, Pakistan and United States of America on study tours.

Kovind was member of the Parliamentary Committees for SC/ST welfare, home ministry, petroleum and natural gas, social justice and rights, and law and justice. He was also the chairman of Rajya Sabha housing committee.

Ram Nath Kovind was a member of management board for Dr BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow and Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.

Kovind represented India at United Nations in New York and addressed the General Assembly in October 2002.

Ram Nath Kovind was the BJP's SC cell president from 1998 to 2002. He was also BJP's national spokesperson.

Ram Nath Kovind was also the member of BJP's National Executive Committee as a permanent invitee.

THE JOURNEY

Born in Paraunkh village of Derapur tehsil in Kanpur rural, Uttar Pradesh, Kovind is the youngest among three brothers. He completed his primary and pre-middle school education from Khanpur in Sandalpur block. He passed intermediate examination from Kanpur and bachelors in Commerce from DAV College. He became a law graduate from DAV Law College, Kanpur.

Thereafter, Kovind moved to the national capital to prepare for Civil Services examination. He cleared the coveted exams in his third attempt. However, he turned out the job offer as he was selected in the Allied Services.

Ram Nath Kovind started his career as a lawyer in the Supreme Court. After the formation of Janata Party government in 1977, he became private secretary to the then prime minister Morarji Desai. He also worked as a junior counselor for the Janata Party government in the Supreme Court. He subsequently came in contact of the BJP leaders.

BJP fielded him as a Lok Sabha candidate from Ghatampur in UP in 1990. However, he lost the election.

In 2007, BJP gave him a ticket for UP Assembly election from Bhognipur constituency. However, he lost that election too.

Thank you for reading.

Jai Hind.