In his final address to the nation, outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday advocated freeing public discourse from violence -- "physical as well as verbal" -- and asserted that the country derived its strength from tolerance.
NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind defeated Opposition's Meira Kumar to officially become the 14th President of India. Kovind won the election by a margin of 3,34,730 votes, securing 7,02,044 as against Kumar's 3,67,314. The former Governor of Bihar will be sworn in on 25 July. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Kovind for his victory, saying that he was “gladdened by the extensive support for Kovind among MPs across various states."
Ram Nath Kovind, the ruling NDA coalition's candidate, was elected as India's 14th President with an overwhelming majority of votes from the country's lawmakers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is always a step ahead of his competitors, a style that makes it hard to preempt his moves. Modi has threw up another surprise on Monday, when the BJP announced its choice of Presidential candidate.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is always a step ahead of his competitors, a style that makes it hard to preempt his moves. Modi has threw up another surprise on Monday, when the BJP announced its choice of Presidential candidate.
Opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar filed her nomination in the presence of top Congress and opposition leaders. Kumar, who filed her papers with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on one side and former prime minister Manmohan Singh on the other, will launch her campaign from Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat on 30 June. Accompanying the former Lok Sabha speaker in Parliament House were a host of opposition leaders, including NCP's Sharad Pawar and CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury. Kumar will contest against NDA's Ram Nath Kovind in the 2017 Presidential Elections. She had said that the election will be a battle of ideologies and not a 'Dalit versus Dalit' fight as was being made out by some.
The landslide win in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls has already ensured that National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has the numbers on their side. On the top of it, political pundits are calling NDA’s move to select Ram Nath Kovind – a BJP veteran from the Dalit community – a political masterstroke.
Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind is the NDA's presidential nominee, BJP chief Amit Shah announced on 19 June. The announcement was made post the BJP parliamentary committee meet. However, the NDA allies must endorse BJP’s nomination of Ram Nath Kovind. Kovind, a lawyer by profession, began his career in 1971 and was enrolled in the Bar Council of India. He worked in the capacity of an advocate for the central government in Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979. Throughout his 16-year-long legal career, he has practised in both the Delhi HC and the Supreme Court.
NDA constituents barring the Shiv Sena today welcomed the candidature of Ram Nath Kovind for the president's post while Opposition parties seemed not impressed and sought to keep up the suspense on extending their support.
The name of Kovind, who has served two terms as Rajya Sabha MP from BJP and was also the party's Dalit wing head, was announced by Amit Shah. The BJP chief hoped that there will be a consensus on his name.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is always a step ahead of his competitors, a style that makes it hard to preempt his moves. Modi has threw up another surprise on Monday, when the BJP announced its choice of Presidential candidate. Music: Big Bang Fuzz
