Shri Ram Nath Kovind
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| President of India : Shri Ram Nath Kovind |
India is a Republic country. Every five years the President of India is elected as per the provision of the Constitution of our country. The elections for the 14th President of India were held this year. Shri Ram Nath Kovind assumed office on 25th July 2017 as the 14th President of India. Shri Kovind was born on 1 October 1945, at Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh. His father, Shri Maiku Lal was a landless Kori who ran a small shop to make ends meet. His mother was Smt. Kalavate. Shri Kovind was the youngest of five brothers nd two sisters.
After his elementary education, he attended junior school that was 8 Km away from his village. He had to walk to school everyday. Thereafter he studied commerce at Kanpur University and law at DAV law college, Kanpur. He started practising law in the early seventies. He practised in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court till 1993. He was the Central Government Advocate in the Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979. He passed the civil services examination on the third attempt but did not join because he was selected for an allied services and thus he started practising law. As an advocate he provided free legal aid to the weaker sections of the society, women and the poor. He joined the Bhartiya Janta Party in 1991 and had been actively fighting for the rights of the weaker sections of the society. He also focused on education in rural areas by helping in construction of school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He has also represented India at the United Nations and addressed the United Nations General Assembly in October 2002. Shri Kovind was appointed the Governor of Bihar in August 2015. He held this post till he was nominated for the post of the President of India. Shri Kovind's term as a governor was praised for constituting a judicial commission to investigate irregularities in promotion of teachers, mismanagement of funds and appointment of undeserving candidates in universities.
Shri Kovind received 63.65% of the valid votes against Mrs. Meera Kumar in the Presidential elections. He won with over 1 lakh votes. He is the second Dalit representative to become the President after Sh. K.R. Narayanan.
Shri Kovind married to Smt. Savita Kovind and they have a son, Prashant Kumar and a daughter Swati. Shri Ram Nath Kovind has an illustrious career behind him. He hopes to continue with the good work and be the Head of the State with equal elan.