Ram Nath Kovind will be the new President of India, to take oath on July 25

The Dollar Business Bureau

Former Governor of Bihar and National Democratic Alliance's (NDA's) Presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind will become the 14th President of India. He will succeed the incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee, whose tenure is completing on July 25.

Kovind obtained 65.65% of votes from the Electoral College, while his opponent, joint Opposition nominee Meira Kumar got just 34.35%.

“Kovind secured 2930 votes with a value of 7,02,044. Meira Kumar got 1,844 votes with the value of 3,67,314, and 77 votes were invalid,” informed Anoop Mishra, the returning officer for Presidential Election 2017.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Kovind for his win. “Gladdened by the extensive support for Ram Nath Kovind Ji among MPs and across various states,” Modi said. 

Kovind got votes of 522 MPs while Meira Kumar bagged the votes of 225 MPs. Total 771 elected MPs were eligible to cast their vote.

“This huge responsibility is a message to everyone who works hard for the nation. I will represent the working class and poor sections of the society in the Rashtrapati Bhavan,” Kovind said, after winning the election.

Kovind, 71, is a famous Dalit leader, who has served as the head of the ST and SC wings of BJP and also been the National Spokesperson of the saffron party. He served two tenures in Rajya Sabha from 1994-2000 and 2000-2006. Kovind is a distinguished orator and statesman, and has addressed the United Nations (UN) in 2002 as a representative of India.

He served as the 36th Governor of Bihar since August 2015.

Born on October 1, 1945 in the Paraunkh villages of Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh, Kovind is a lawyer by profession. He studied from Kanpur University and got B.Com and LLB degrees.

Kovind had a successful career as a lawyer and practised at Delhi High Court as well as Supreme Court for 16 years.

Kovind also held several key positions in the parliamentary committee during his stint as a lawmaker. He has served as Chairman of Rajya Sabha House Committee, Member of Parliamentary Committees on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes; Petroleum and Natural Gas; Law and Justice; Social Justice and Empowerment; and Home Affairs.

The swearing in ceremony of the new President will be held on July 25.