Ram Nath Kovind takes over as Indian president
Ram Nath Kovind was sworn in as India's 14th president yesterday, becoming just the second leader from the oppressed Dalit community to be elected head of state.
A former lawyer and state governor, Kovind was elected to the largely ceremonial position last week with more than 65 percent of the vote by members of India's parliament and state assemblies.
Kovind, accompanied by his wife, paid respects early yesterday at a memorial dedicated to India's independence hero Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi.
"I grew up in a mud house, in a small village. My journey has been a long one, and yet this journey is hardly mine alone. It is so telling of our nation and our society also," Kovind said after taking the oath of office in parliament.
"For all its problems, it (nation) follows that basic mantra given to us in the preamble of the constitution -- of ensuring justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, and I will always continue to follow this basic mantra."
The 71-year-old was nominated by the ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party in a move analysts say would help Prime Minister Narendra Modi tighten his grip on power and gain political capital ahead of his re-election bid in 2019, reported AFP.
Kovind has said he will use his position to improve the lot of Dalits, a marginalised 200-million strong community once known as "untouchables" and ranked among India's poorest.
"Our diversity is the core that makes us so unique... We are so different yet so similar and united," Kovind said.
After the ceremony, Pranab Mukherjee gave the new President a tour of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In his farewell address as the outgoing President on Monday, Pranab Mukherjee had underscored the need for unity, pluralism and tolerance. "Gandhiji saw India as an inclusive nation, where every section of our population lived in equality and enjoyed equal opportunity. He wanted our people to move forward unitedly in ever-widening thought and action," he had said.
India's prime minister wields executive power, but the president can send back some parliamentary bills for reconsideration and also plays a guiding role in the process of forming governments.
Kovind is the second Dalit president after K R Narayan, who held the post for five years from 1997.
The Dalit leader first stepped into politics in 1994 when he was elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh. He served for two consecutive terms for 12 years till March, 2006.
He represented India in the United Nations in New York and addressed United Nations General Assembly in October, 2002, reported The Hindu.
During his parliamentary tenure, Kovind emphasised on development of basic infrastructure for education in rural areas and helped in the construction of school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand under MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) Scheme.
He has served as a member of several parliamentary committees, including the Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, among others.
Kovind served as a member of the Board of Management of Dr B R Ambedkar University, Lucknow. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.
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