Ram Nath Kovind to succeed Pranab Mukherjee as Indian President
Ram Nath Kovind, born on 1 October 1945, is an Indian politician who will
succeed the incumbent president Pranab Mukherjee as the President of India on
25 July 2017. He was the Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017. He had also
served as the Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006.
Kovind was born in Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh. His father was a farmer.
He holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce and a LLB from DAV College, (affiliated
with Kanpur University).
After graduating in law from a Kanpur college, Kovind went to Delhi to
prepare for the civil services examination. He passed this exam on his third
attempt, but he did not join as he was selected for an allied service instead
of IAS and thus started practicing law. He was Central Government Advocate in
the Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979 and served as a Central Government
standing counsel in the Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. In 1978, he became an
advocate-on-record of the Supreme Court of India. He practiced in the Delhi
High Court and Supreme Court for about 16 years until 1993. He was also
enrolled as an advocate in 1971 with the bar council of Delhi. As an advocate
he provided free legal aid to weaker sections of society, women and the poor
under the Free Legal Aid Society in New Delhi. He also served as the personal
assistant of Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai in 1977-1978.
He joined the BJP 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. He donated his ancestral home in Derapur
to the RSS. He contested from Ghatampur and Bhognipur (both in Uttar Pradesh)
assembly constituencies on the BJP ticket but lost both elections.
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 served on the Parliamentary
Committee for Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Home Affairs, Petroleum and
Natural Gas, Social Justice and Empowerment, Law and Justice. He also served as
the chairman of the Rajya Sabha House Committee. During his career as a
parliamentarian, under M.P. L.A.D. Scheme, he focused on education in rural
areas by helping in construction of school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and
Uttrakhand. As a member of parliament, he visited Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan,
Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and the United
States on study tours.
He has served on the Board of management of Dr. B.R Ambedkar University,
Lucknow and as on the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta. He has also
represented India at the UN and addressed the United Nations General Assembly
in October 2002.
On 8 August 2015, the President of India appointed Kovind as Governor of
Bihar. 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.
The function took place at Raj Bhawan, Patna.
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.
After nomination for the post of 14th President of India, he resigned
from his post as Governor of Bihar, and President of India Pranab Mukherjee
accepted his resignation on 20 June 2017. He won election on 20 July 2017.
Kovind married Savita Kovind on 30 May 1974. They have a married son,
Prashant Kumar, and a daughter, Swati.
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