Second Bihar Governor who could be India's Prez

Will history repeat itself? Fifty years back, it was Dr Zakir Hussain who became the first Muslim President of India in 1967. But more importantly, he was the first Bihar Governor who went on to occupy the top constitutional post in India.

An educationist, Hussain was Bihar Governor from 1957 to 1962 before becoming India’s President in May 1967. However, he had a short stint as Prez since he passed away in May 1969. If the present Bihar Governor Ramnath Kovind eventually makes it to Rashtrapati Bhavan, he will be the second Bihar Governor to don the President’s mantle.

The first Prez Dr Rajendra Prasad was also from Bihar. Born at Ziradei in Bihar’s Siwan district (now infamous due to Md Shahabuddin), Dr Prasad was president of the Constituent Assembly which was formed to draft the Indian Constitution. Before becoming country’s first Rashtrapati on January 26, 1950, Dr Prasad served as Union Agriculture Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s Cabinet. Dr Prasad continued as President for 12 consecutive years before demitting office in 1962.

Kovind, who was appointed Bihar Governor as August 8, 2015, will, however, be not able to complete his term here, if he is elected as President in the third week of July. The BJP leader from Kanpur (in UP), who was also party’s Rajya Sabha member twice (from 1994 to 2006), had a non-controversial stint as Bihar Governor. A soft-spoken and suave person, Kovind shared a personal rapport with Chief Minister and JD (U) president Nitish Kumar.

Shortly before leaving for New Delhi on Monday evening to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kovind had a one-to-one meeting with Nitish, whose outfit - the JD (U) is one of the Opposition parties mulling over a proposal whether a joint Opposition candidate should be fielded for the presidential poll or not.