Presidential Elections News

NDA's presidential candidate and former Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind was elected India's 14th President on Thursday. He secured a vote value of 7,02,044, over 65% of the total 10,98,882. He defeated the Congress-led Opposition candidate Meira Kumar, who managed to get a vote value of 3,67,314. Kovind is India's second Dalit President, after KR Narayanan.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of India's President, took 17 years to finish building, and was earlier the Viceroy's House. The complex has a total of 340 rooms, spread over four floors, and an area of 2,00,000 square feet. A part of the complex are the Mughal Gardens, one of the world's best rose gardens with over 150 varieties.

President-elect Ram Nath Kovind secured 65.65% of votes in the 2017 presidential elections, the lowest for a presidential election winner since 1974, according to government data. Pranab Mukherjee secured a 69.31% vote share in 2012, while Pratibha Patil secured 65.82% votes in 2007. Notably, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy is the only candidate to have been elected as President unopposed, in 1977.

Elected India's 14th President, Ram Nath Kovind will be the first President from Uttar Pradesh, and the second Dalit President after KR Narayanan. He has practised as an advocate in the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court. He has also been a Rajya Sabha member and BJP's SC cell President. He resigned as Bihar Governor to fight the Presidential polls.

As many as 77 votes were declared invalid in the Presidential elections, because of invalid symbols like commas, dots, and circles, according to the people involved in counting. The number '1' with a '.' was the most common mistake, while the "1" (one in inverted commas) came second. One voter wrote '1' on Meira Kumar's name instead of the box.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a farewell for the outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee at the Hyderabad House on Saturday. Modi presented Mukherjee with a memento, keeping with the tradition. Further, President Pranab Mukherjee signed the visitors' book at the building. Mukherjee, who will demit office on Monday, was given a farewell by the MPs in the Parliament on Sunday.

President-elect Ram Nath Kovind will visit the Rajghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at 10:30 am on Tuesday. He, along with outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee will reach the Parliament at 12:05 pm, and Kovind will take oath at 12:15 pm. He will receive a 21-gun salute, and they would later go to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for change of guard.

President-elect Ram Nath Kovind, who will take the oath as the country's 14th President, talked about his childhood, saying his election to the post "is to represent all such Kovinds toiling away to make a living". He was born in an Uttar Pradesh village, and his father had to sell off a piece of his land to fund his education.

President Pranab Mukherjee launched Rashtrapati Bhavan's Twitter account to connect directly with people. It currently has over 32 lakh followers. Interestingly, during the last two years of his tenure, he used to teach class 11 and 12 students in the school inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises. A 'speaking museum' was developed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan to narrate the building's story.

Ram Nath Kovind was sworn-in as India's 14th President on Tuesday at the oath-taking ceremony held at the Central Hall of the Parliament. He was administered the oath of the office by the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar. Kovind, who defeated Opposition candidate Meira Kumar after securing over 65% votes, is the country's second Dalit President after KR Narayanan.

President Ram Nath Kovind gave his acceptance speech in the Parliament after being sworn-in as the 14th President. "I feel privileged to walk on the same path as Dr Radhakrishnan, Dr Abdul Kalam, and Pranab da," he said. He also thanked those present for "trusting [him] with the responsibility to be the President of India".

President Ram Nath Kovind took over the official 'President of India' Twitter account on Tuesday and posted various tweets. "Honoured to be sworn in as the 14th President of India; would be carrying out my responsibilities with all humility", his first tweet read. The account with the handle '@rashtrapatibhvn', was earlier used by former President Pranab Mukherjee.

A picture gallery shows former President Pranab Mukherjee's journey from being the Minister of State for Revenue and Banking to completing his term as India's President. The gallery also includes a picture of him with former PM Indira Gandhi, during whose tenure he served as the Finance Minister. The last image shows him gesturing after his farewell speech as President.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday said in a speech that "nation building requires national pride", adding "each citizen of India is a nation builder". He talked about the various professionals of India, and how they act as nation builders. He also said that India has believed in the philosophy of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - the World is My Family".

Newly-appointed President Ram Nath Kovind is the first from Uttar Pradesh to hold the country's highest post. Some of the previous Presidents with singular records are Dr Rajendra Prasad, who is the only President to be elected thrice. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy is the only President to be elected unopposed, while APJ Abdul Kalam was the only bachelor in all Presidents.

A group of BJP MPs raised slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' after President Ram Nath Kovind was sworn-in at the Parliament's Central Hall on Tuesday. Many officials also thumped their desks after the 71-year-old took the oath as the 14th President of India. Kovind was given a 21-gun salute to mark the assumption of office.

Voting to choose the 15th Vice President of India between NDA's candidate M Venkaiah Naidu and Opposition's candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi began at the Parliament on Saturday. The polling will continue till 5 pm, following which the counting of votes will take place. The results of the election would also be declared by the end of the day.

As the voting to choose Vice-President between NDA's candidate M Venkaiah Naidu and Opposition's nominee Gopalkrishna Gandhi ended on Saturday, an overall poll percentage of 98.21% was recorded in the election. The voting that started at 10 am and continued till 5 pm saw 771 members casting their votes out of the 785 members of the electoral college.

BJP-led NDA's candidate and former Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was elected India's 15th Vice-President on Saturday. With this, BJP has occupied top three constitutional posts of India – President, Vice-President, and Prime Minister – for the first time. Receiving 516 out of 760 valid votes, Naidu defeated Congress-led Opposition's candidate and Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi.