Ram Nath Kovind facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ram Nath Kovind
|
|
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2017
|
|
| President of India | |
| In office 25 July 2017 – 25 July 2022 |
|
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Vice President | |
| Preceded by | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Succeeded by | Droupadi Murmu |
| Governor of Bihar | |
| In office 16 August 2015 – 21 June 2017 |
|
| Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
| Preceded by | Keshari Nath Tripathi |
| Succeeded by | Keshari Nath Tripathi |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 1994 – 2 April 2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Subramanian Swamy |
| Succeeded by | Vinay Katiyar |
| Constituency | Uttar Pradesh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 October 1945 Paraunkh, United Provinces, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse |
Savita Kovind
(m. 1974) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residences | 12 Janpath, New Delhi, Delhi, India |
| Alma mater | Kanpur University (B.Com., LL.B.) |
| Occupation |
|
| Signature |  |
Ram Nath Kovind was the President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a politician and a lawyer. He was the first person from Uttar Pradesh to become president. He was also the first president from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Before becoming president, he was the Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017. He also served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (one of India's two houses of Parliament) from 1994 to 2006. Before politics, he worked as a lawyer for 16 years. He practiced law in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Kovind was born on October 1, 1945, in Paraunkh village. This village is in the Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh, India. He was the youngest of seven children. His father, Maiku Lal, was a farmer and ran a small shop. His mother, Kalawati, was a homemaker.
Kovind's family lived in a mud hut. When he was five, his mother died in a fire that destroyed their home. He later gave the land where his home stood to the community.
After elementary school, he had to walk 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) every day. He walked to a different village to attend junior school. This was because no one in his village had a bicycle. He earned a bachelor's degree in commerce and a law degree (LLB) from DAV College, Kanpur. This college is part of Kanpur University.
Early Career Steps
Becoming an Advocate
After finishing his law degree, Kovind moved to Delhi. He wanted to prepare for the civil services exam. He passed this exam on his third try. He scored well enough to work in an allied service, which is a government job. He then started practicing law.
Kovind became a lawyer in 1971. He worked for the Central Government in the Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979. He also served as a personal assistant to Prime Minister Morarji Desai from 1977 to 1978. In 1978, he became an advocate-on-record for the Supreme Court of India. He worked as a government lawyer in the Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. He helped people who could not afford legal help. He provided free legal aid to women and the poor.
Starting in Politics
Kovind joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1991. He led the BJP Dalit Morcha (a group for people from disadvantaged communities) from 1998 to 2002. He also led the All-India Koli Samaj. He was a national spokesperson for the party. He gave his family home in Paraunkh to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
He ran for election to the assembly twice in Uttar Pradesh. He lost both times, in Ghatampur and Bhognipur.
In 1997, Kovind joined protests against government orders. These orders negatively affected workers from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Later, the government made changes to the Constitution of India. These changes helped to fix the issues.
Serving in Rajya Sabha
In April 1994, Kovind was elected to the Rajya Sabha. This is the upper house of India's Parliament. He represented the state of Uttar Pradesh. He served for 12 years, completing two terms until March 2006.
As a Member of Parliament, he worked on several important committees. These included committees for Home Affairs and Social Justice. He also chaired the Rajya Sabha House Committee. During his time in Parliament, he focused on education in rural areas. He helped build school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He also traveled to many countries for study tours. These countries included Thailand, Nepal, Germany, and the United States.
Other Important Roles
Kovind served on the management board of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow. He also served on the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta. In October 2002, he represented India at the United Nations. He spoke at the United Nations General Assembly.
Governor of Bihar (2015–2017)
On August 8, 2015, President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Kovind as the Governor of Bihar. On August 16, 2015, he took his oath as the 26th governor of Bihar. The ceremony took place at Raj Bhawan in Patna.
His appointment was initially criticized by the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. This was because it happened before state elections. Also, the state government was not consulted. However, Kovind's time as governor was praised. He set up a special committee to look into problems in universities. This committee investigated issues like unfair teacher promotions and misuse of funds. In June 2017, when he was chosen as a candidate for president, Nitish Kumar supported him. Kumar praised Kovind for being fair and working well with the state government.
Presidential Election
Kovind was nominated to become the 14th president of India. He then resigned from his post as the Governor of Bihar. President Pranab Mukherjee accepted his resignation on June 20, 2017. Kovind won the election on July 20, 2017.
Kovind received 65.65% of the votes. His opponent, Meira Kumar, received 34.35%. Kovind received 2,930 votes from Members of Parliament and state assembly members. This amounted to 702,044 electoral college votes. Meira Kumar received 1,844 votes, totaling 367,314 electoral votes. He is the first BJP candidate with a background in the RSS to become president.
Presidency (2017–2022)
Kovind took the oath as the 14th president of India on July 25, 2017. During his five-year term, he spoke to the Parliament of India five times. His first speech was when he took the oath. The other four speeches were to both houses of Parliament from 2018 to 2021. As president, Kovind administered the oath of office to three Chief Justices of India. He also swore in 29 other judges of the Supreme Court of India. Droupadi Murmu succeeded him as president on July 21, 2022.
Post-Presidency
Panel on "One Nation, One Election"
In September 2023, the Government of India created an 8-member committee. Kovind was chosen to lead this committee. Its goal is to suggest changes to the constitution. These changes would allow for elections to be held at the same time across the country. The committee will look at laws and rules. They will propose ways to make simultaneous elections possible.
Personal Life
.jpg)
Kovind married Savita on May 30, 1974. They have two children. Their son is Prashant Kumar. Their daughter, Swati, works as an air hostess for Air India.
Awards and Honours
Madagascar:
National Order of Madagascar, Grand Cross 2nd Class (March 14, 2018)
Equatorial Guinea:
Order of Independence, Grand Collar (April 8, 2018)
Eswatini:
Order of the Lion, Collar (April 9, 2018)
Croatia:
Grand Order of King Tomislav (March 26, 2019)
Bolivia:
Grand Collar, Order of the Condor of the Andes (March 26, 2019)
Guinea:
National Order of Merit, Grand Cross (August 3, 2019)
.png){kind=small}
.gif){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
See Also
In Spanish: Ram Nath Kovind para niños
- Presidency of Ram Nath Kovind
- President of India
