Ram Nath Kovind to be India’s next president

Kovind comfortably defeated UPA nominee Meira Kumar in the presidential election

GN Bureau | July 20, 2017


#Ram Nath Kovind   #Narendra Modi   #Meira Kumar   #president   #election   #NDA   #UPA   #Nitish Kumar  
(Photo: governor.bih.nic.in)
(Photo: governor.bih.nic.in)

 India’s 14th president is going to be former Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind, a dalit. He triumphed over former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar in the vote count that took place on Thursday.

 
Kovind succeeds Pranab Mukherjee, who demits office on July 25. He becomes the second dalit president after KR Narayanan.
 
 
The presidential poll saw nearly 99 per cent voting on Monday. Ballotting took place simultaneously at the Parliament House, 29 state assemblies and two union territories with assemblies.
 
The president is elected by an electoral college that comprises all MPs and MLAs. The electoral college has 10,98,903 votes. A candidate needs over 50 percent votes to win the poll. A total of 4,895 voters -- 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs -- were eligible to vote. Madhya Pradesh minister Narottam Mishra did not cast his vote as he was disqualified over the allegations of "paid news".
 
Ram Nath Kovind, 71, is a farmer's son and had humble origins. He is lawyer and has served two terms as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
 
 
After filing his nomination papers, Kovind had said: “I will always try and it is also my belief that the president’s post should be above politics.”
“Since the time I became governor, I am no longer part of a political group,” he had assured.
 
Meira Kumar, who was pitted against Kovind, said before the vote count began: "We have fought a principled fight... we are fighting for values that most people of the country believe in."
 
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) had extended support to Kovind, breaking away from the opposition ranks.
 
Kovind’s victory seemed to have been a foregone conclusion, so much so that prime minister Narenda Modi on Sunday, a day ahead of voting, expressed confidence in his victory. He was quoted as saying that the “way ahead was clear” and he would be delighted to work with Kovind.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Targeting root causes of cancer with green policies

The Budget 2025 was splashed across headlines with its innumerable numbers and policies, but lurking behind the balance sheets is a threat that it has not accounted for yet — the silent, merciless clutches of cancer. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that it remains one of humanity`s mo

Congress needs course correction: Prithviraj Chavan

Prithviraj Chavan, a former Maharashtra chief minister and veteran Congress leader, feels his party has probably failed to provide a viable alternative to the government, and it needs a course correction. “I do acknowledge that the Congress party may have failed to provide the alternat

Major haul of illegal arms and ammunition in Manipur

In a significant breakthrough, Manipur Police, in a joint operation with Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), the Indian Army, and Assam Rifles, recovered a massive cache of illegal arms, ammunition, and explosives during coordinated search operations across five valley districts in the intervening night o

PM visits crash site, meets the injured

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited the Air India flight crash site in Ahmedabad to assess the situation first-hand. He met officials and emergency response teams working tirelessly in the aftermath of the disaster. He also condoled the loss of numerous lives in the tragic air accident. He con

Air India flight crashes in Ahmedabad

The Air India flight to London crashed in Ahmedabad within munites of the take-off Thursday afternoon. There were 232 passengers and 10 crew members aboard, and reports suggest there was slim chances of anyone surviving. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed and exploded in a fireball barely out

Cabinet approves two multitracking projects of Railways

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved two projects of the railways ministry with a total cost of Rs. 6,405 crore. These projects include:  1. Koderma – Barkakana Doubling (133 Kms): The project sec

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter