In a surprise turn of events, the Bharatiya Janata Party proposed the name of Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as the NDA candidate for the upcoming Presidential election. Seventy-one-year-old Kovind is a Dalit leader from Kanpur.

The announcement came as a surprise as several other names were doing the rounds. Coming from a modest family in Uttar Pradesh, Kovind has donned several roles in public life. 

Born on October 1, 1945 at Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh, he was married to Savita Kovind and has a son, Prashant Kumar, and a daughter Swati.

Kovind was Central Government Advocate in Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979 and Central Government Standing Counsel in Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. Kovind became Advocate-on-Record of the Supreme Court of India in 1978. He had practiced in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court for about 16 years until 1993. 

Kovind was elected to Rajya Sabha in April 1994 from Uttar Pradesh and served for two consecutive terms for 12 years till March, 2006. In Parliament, Kovind served as member of several important Parliamentary Committees such as: Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, Parliamentary Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, Parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, Parliamentary Committee on Law and Justice, Chairman of Rajya Sabha House Committee.

Kovind has served as Member of Board of Management of Dr. BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow and also as a Member of Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. Kovind also represented India in the United Nations and addressed United Nations General Assembly in October, 2002. 

The NDA candidate has been known as a crusader for the Rights and Cause of Weaker Sections of Society specially Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/ OBC/Minority/Land/ Women from his student days.

Kovind had joined the movement of SC/ST employees against the Central Government when in 1997 some orders were issued by the Centre which adversely affected the interests of employees of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes. Kovind consequently succeeded in getting those Government orders declared null and void by the passage of three Amendments in the Constitution of India during the first NDA regime led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Kovind is also known as a pioneer in spreading education. During his parliamentary tenure of 12 years, Kovind emphasized on the development of basic infrastructure for education in rural areas by helping in construction of school buildings in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand under MPLAD scheme. As an advocate, Kovind took a lead in providing free legal aid to weaker sections of society, especially SC/ST women, needy and the poor under the aegis of “Free Legal Aid Society” in Delhi.

 By announcing Kovind’s name, BJP appears to have made a political masterstroke as not many parties would like to oppose the low-profile Dalit leader, who has been extremely successful in public life.

 

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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