President of India: Ram Nath Kovind

President of India: Ram Nath Kovind
Ram Nath Kovind
President of India: Ram Nath Kovind
Ram Nath Kovind

President of India (2017–Present): Ram Nath Kovind

Date of Birth: October 1, 1945.

Place of Birth: Kovind was born into the family of weaver caste of Koris (considered as Dalits) in village Parunkh, Kanpur Dehat district, UP (Uttar Pradesh).

Parents: His father was Maikulal Kovind who used to run a small shop in the area. His mother passed away when he was only 5 years old. This happened when there was an accidental fire at their thatched village mud hut.

Spouse: He married his wife Savita Kovind on May 30, 1974. They have two children – a daughter named Shweta and a son named Prashant Kumar.

Political Party: Kovind was a member of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) till July 2017. He joined the party back in 1991.

Education: Kovind completed his elementary education in his village. After that he attended junior school at Kanpur. He had to walk daily for 8 km in order to do so. This was because nobody in his village had a bicycle. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and he did his LLB (Bachelor of Law) from DAV (Dayanand Anglo Vedic) College that is affiliated to the Kanpur University. He later passed his civil services examination from Delhi, but did not join the bureaucracy.

Career: It was in 1971 that he started to work as an advocate at the Delhi bar council. Till 1993, he practiced at the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.

Political Milestones: Kovind started his political career in BJP and served as the President of the BJP Dalit Morcha from 1998 to 2002. He has also been the President of the All-India Koli Samaj and the national spokesperson for BJP.

It was in April 1994 that he was chosen as an MP (Member of Parliament) of Rajya Sabha from UP. He served two consecutive terms or 12 years in this position till March 2006.

He has also worked as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Committee. Kovind has been a member of the Board of Management of the Dr. BR Ambedkar University in Lucknow. He was also on the Board of Governors of IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Kolkata. He has represented India at the UN (United Nations) as well and addressed the General Assembly in October 2002. Before becoming the President of India, Kovind also served as the Governor of Bihar from August 8, 2015 to June 2017 when he was announced as a candidate for the Presidential elections. He became the 14th President of India on July 25, 2017.

With this, he also became the first leader from the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) to achieve this post. Kovind has received state honours from other countries too in his term as the President. This includes the National Order of Madagascar on March 14, 2018, which is the highest civilian honour of that country. On March 26, 2019, he received the Grand Order of King Tomislav, which happens to be the highest civilian honour of Croatia. He has also been conferred the Order of the Condor of the Andes, the highest civilian honour of Bolivia.

Related Links:

Order of Precedence in India

Ramnath Kovind swears in as 14th President of India