About Us
Ram Nath Kovind (राम नाथ कोविन्द) (born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current President of India since 25 July 2017.[2] He is also the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as President of India.[3] Prior to his presidency, he served as the 26th governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017[4][5] and as a member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006. Before entering politics, he was a lawyer for 16 years and practiced in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India until 1993.
1 Early life and education
2 Early career
2.1 Advocate
2.2 Start of political career
2.3 Rajya Sabha
2.4 Other appointments
3 Governor of Bihar (2015–2017)
4 Presidency (2017–present)
4.1 2017 presidential campaign
4.2 List of international trips as president
5 Personal life
6 Issues
7 State honours
8 See also
9 References
On 8 August 2015, President Mukherjee appointed Kovind as the governor of Bihar.[24] On 16 August 2015, the acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court, Iqbal Ahmad Ansari, administered the oath to Kovind as the 26th governor of Bihar, in a ceremony at Raj Bhawan in Patna.[25]
Kovind’s appointment was criticised by then Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar as it came months before 2015 state Assembly elections and the appointment was made without consulting the state government as recommended by Sarkaria Commission.[26] However, Kovind’s term as the governor was praised for constituting a judicial commission to investigate irregularities in promotion of undeserving teachers, mismanagement of funds and appointment of undeserving candidates in universities.[19] In June 2017, when he was announced as candidate for presidential election, Nitish Kumar backed his choice and praised him as being unbiased and working closely with the state government during his governorship.
Former MP Kovind at a function with Prime Minister Narendra Modi opening a bridge in Bihar, 2016.
After graduating in law from DAV College, Kanpur, Kovind went to Delhi to prepare for the civil services examination. He passed this exam on his third attempt, He scored high enough to work in an allied service rather than in IAS and thus started practicing law.[18]
Kovind enrolled as an advocate in 1971 with the bar council of Delhi. He was Central Government Advocate in the Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979. Between 1977 and 1978, he also served as the personal assistant of Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai.[19] In 1978, he became an advocate-on-record of the Supreme Court of India and served as a standing counsel for the central government in the Supreme Court of India from 1980 to 1993. He practised in the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court until 1993. As an advocate, he provided pro-bono aid to weaker sections of society, women and the poor under the Free Legal Aid Society of New Delhi.
He joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1991. He was the president of the BJP Dalit Morcha between 1998 and 2002 and the president of the All-India Koli Samaj. He also served as the national spokesperson of the party. He donated his ancestral home in Paraunkh to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.Soon after joining the BJP, he contested Ghatampur assembly constituency, but lost and later contested Bhognipur in 2007 elections (both in Uttar Pradesh) assembly constituency on the BJP ticket but lost again.[21]
In 1997, Kovind, being from Kori family, joined the protest against certain orders from the central government that had adverse effects on the SC/ST workers. Later, three amendments were made to the Constitution that revoked the orders, by the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
