Kovind was not such a closely guarded secret after all -Governance Now

Kovind was not such a closely guarded secret after all

NDA’s presidential candidate surprised some but the name had been doing rounds

Shankar Kumar | June 20, 2017 | New Delhi

#President #NDA #Narendra Modi #Ram Nath Kovind

(Photo: governor.bih.nic.in)

Ram Nath Kovind, Narendra Modi, NDA, President

“Ram Nath who?” That was the reaction from some newsmakers, when Ram Nath Kovind’s name was announced for the post of Bihar governor in 2015. The same response was repeated on Monday when he was named the ruling NDA’s candidate for the presidential elections.

And surprise there surely is. There were half a dozen names doing rounds from the ruling side, including some cabinet members, some party veterans, some dark horses and some usual suspects. Kovind was not named by anybody – no reporter with deep contacts every counted him among the potentials.

So, it seems, Kovind’s candidature was a closely guarded secret, or a last-minute brainwave of the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combine.

That is not the case. I happen to have heard the name way back in December from a journalist-turned-administrator close to the ruling regime. This gentleman had told us, in a friendly banter talk, that the Bihar governor could be “potential presidential candidate of the NDA”.

When the same group of journalist-friends met him in March again and asked him if he still believed Kovind was in contention when so many big names had started doing rounds, he said, “Whatever I had to say I have already told you… it’s up to you to take it or leave it.”

Comments

Other News

Shri Avanish Kumar Mishra (ISS, 2000) appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances.

Shri Avanish Kumar Mishra (ISS: 2000) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India. The appointment, approved by the Appointments

Millets are thriving. Are millet farmers?

The story of millets is nothing short of extraordinary. Once seen as the food of the poor and downtrodden, they are now seen as the food of the health conscious and the elite. Today, these nutri-cereals occupy prominent shelves in premium supermarkets, feature on the menus of gourmet restaurants, and are e

More judges will not fix courts without better court work practices

A vacant courtroom cannot decide a case. Neither can a poorly managed courtroom simply decide twice as many cases after receiving an additional judge. Judicial capacity and court productivity are related, but they are not the same. The distinction matters because India’s district and subord

Dharmendra Pradhan tenders resignation

Dharmendra Pradhan, education minister at the centre of the storm of the NEET paper leak, offered his resignation to the prime minister on Saturday. He posted a two-page letter on X, saying he was pained by the events of the last ten days. "This is not a matter of personal

Cabinet approves scheme of chemical parks

The union cabinet chaired by the PM has approved Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana Rasayan or BHAVYA - Rasayan Scheme for establishing three dedicated Chemical Parks in the country. The Scheme was announced in the Union Budget of FY 2026–27. The Scheme will have a total financ

Anurag Jain, IAS appointed as Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog

Anurag Jain, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog for a two-year term after serving as the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh. A distinguished administrator with extensive experience in infrastructure, industrial de