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Ram Nath Kovind declared 14th President of India
The presidential election on July 17 saw close to 100 percent polling.
New Delhi, July 20: National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) candidate Ram Nath Kovind has been declared as the 14th President of India. Ram Nath Kovind won the Presidential election by a margin of 3,34,730 votes, with the Opposition’s nominee Meira Kumar having been limited to 3,67,314 votes. The presidential election on July 17 saw close to 100 percent polling. A total of 771 members of Parliament and 4,109 legislators were eligible to cast votes.
A lawyer by profession, Ram Nath Kovind has worked extensively in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Kovind has been the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Scheduled Caste Morcha chief (1998-2002) and the President of the All-India Koli Samaj. He also served as the national spokesperson of the party. The saffron party had even tried to project him as an alternative to Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh.
Kovind was enrolled as an advocate in 1971 with the Bar Council of Delhi. He became the Advocate-on-Record of the Supreme Court in 1978 and practised in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court for about 16 years till 1993. He was appointed as the Governor of Bihar on August 8, 2015. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh during the two terms of 1994-2000 and 2000-2006.
Kovind served as member of the board of management of the BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow. He also served as member of board of governors of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. Kovind also represented India in United Nations (New York) and addressed the UN General Assembly in October, 2002.
Close to 99 per cent voting was recorded in the presidential election held on July 17. As many as 11 states witnessed 100 per cent polling. A total of 771 members of Parliament and 4,109 legislators were eligible to cast votes. Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit and former Bihar Governor, was announced as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA’s candidate for the post of President of India on June 19. Congress-led opposition declared Meira Kumar, the former Speaker of Lok Sabha, as their presidential candidate on June 22. (With agency inputs)
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