Ram Nath Kovind Takes Oath As 14th President of India

Update: President-elect Ram Nath Kovind, President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Chief Justice JS Khehar reach the central hall of Parliament, where Mr Kovind will be sworn in as the 14th President of India

President Pranab Mukherjee and President-elect Ram Nath Kovind leave the Rashtrapati Bhavan and proceed to the Parliament of India, where Mr Kovind will be sworn in as the 14th President of India

President Pranab Mukherjee and President-elect Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before leaving to Parliament House

Update: President-elect Ram Nath Kovind has reached the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mr Kovind will be received by President Pranab Mukherjee. They will then proceed to the Parliament House, where President-elect Kovind will be sworn in by the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar.

Know Your President – A brief history about President Ram Nath Kovind:

1) Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, is a farmer’s son and in known for his humble origins and simple lifestyle.

2) Born on October 1, 1945, in Kanpur Dehat, Ram Nath Kovind is a commerce graduate. He pursued law from Kanpur University.

3) Mr Kovind practiced in the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court for more than 15 years.

4) He is married to Savita Kovind and has a son and a daughter.

5) Mr Kovind is the former president of BJP Dalit Morcha. He has also served as the BJP’s national spokesperson.

6) He was also a two-time Rajya Sabha member from the state of Uttar Pradesh between 1994-2000 and 2000-06.

7) Mr Kovind had worked as a top aide to former Prime Minister Morarji Desai and has represented India at the United Nations in New York.

8) He has also been a member of several Parliamentary Committees, including the committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Social Justice and Empowerment, and Law and Justice.

9) He was appointed as the Governor of Bihar by the Centre three years ago. The septuagenarian became the 36th Governor of Bihar in August 2015. His appointment had surprised many state leaders and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had voiced his displeasure over not being consulted. Though, during his term in Bihar, Governor Kovind hadn’t run into no controversy with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

10) He will be the second Dalit President after KR Narayanan to hold the nation’s highest office.

“It’s a great responsibility,” President-elect Ram Nath Kovind had said after winning the Presidential election.

Outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee and President-elect Ram Nath Kovind will arrive in the central hall of Parliament in a ceremonial procession, where Mr Kovind will be administered oath as the 14th President of India by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar. After the swearing-in ceremony, President Ram Nath Kovind and his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee will exchange seats. A 21-gun salute will be given in his honour and the new President will then deliver his acceptance speech and first address to the nation.

(Ram Nath Kovind and Pranab Mukherjee will change seats after Mr Kovind is sworn in as the 14th President of India)

President-elect Ram Nath Kovind pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in New Delhi. From here, he will head to the Rashtrapati Bhavan (presidential palace), where he will be received by outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee.

(Photo: President-elect Ram Nath Kovind pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat ahead of his swearing-in ceremony as the 14th President of India)

Last week, Ram Nath Kovind, who was the former Governor of Bihar won the 2017 presidential election against opposition candidate Meira Kumar, the former Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Mr Kovind got 65.65 per cent of the total votes which totalled 702,044 electoral college votes.

(Photo: Ram Nath Kovind, Meira Kumar)

President-elect Ram Nath Kovind will begin the day with a visit to Rajghat to pay his respect to Mahatma Gandhi before heading to Rashtrapati Bhavan where he will be received by outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee. Both will then proceed to the Parliament House together.

(Photo: Ram Nath Kovind, who will be sworn in as the 14th President of India today)

Those present at the swearing-in ceremony include Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, union ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, Ambassadors and other diplomats, MPs and senior civil and military officers.

(Photo: President-elect Ram Nath Kovind with President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi)