Ram Nath Kovind: His rise from Kanpur's Paraukh village to 340-room Rashtrapati Bhavan

New Delhi: As soon Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was elected the 14th President of India, his ancestral village Paraukh in Kanpur Dehat district burst into celebrations. Residents lit lamps with ghee, played gulal (colour), burst firecrackers as their 'Baba Ji', defeated Opposition candidate Meira Kumar in a straight fight by a huge margin of 334,730. 

After his thumping victory, Kovind reminisced his early life in his native village where he used to reside in a small mud house with his siblings. Addressing media, soon after taking over Pranab Mukherjee, Kovind said that it is an emotional moment for him. "Today it's raining in Delhi since morning. The rain reminds me of my childhood days when I used to live in my native village," said Kovind, adding, "Ghar kachcha tha, mitti ki diwar thi, baarish ke samay phoos ki chhat paani rok nahi pati thi. Ham sab bhai, behan, kamare ke baahar khade hokar intezar karte the ki baarish kab khatam hogi" (We had a thatched house, the walls were made of mud. The roof leaked and we used to wait for the rain to stop),'' leading daily Times of India quoted Kovind as saying. 

Early life: 

Son of a farmer, Kovind was born on October 1, 1945 at Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh. His father had to sell a piece of his farmland to fund Kovind’s education. He prepared for civil services and cleared the examination in third attempt but did not get desired rank. He then chose to practise as a lawyer, first at the Delhi High Court. Between 1980-1993 he practised as standing counsel at the Supreme Court. 

Political journey: 

Kovind, was known as a crusader from his student days for the Rights and Cause of Weaker Sections of the Society specially SC/ST/OBC/Minority/Land Women. In year 1994, he was elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and served two consecutive terms until March 2006. He will be the second Dalit President after K.R. Narayanan. Kovind, who was the national spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), headed the party's Scheduled Caste Morcha for three years from 1999. He was actively associated with the RSS before joining the BJP.

Result: 

He got 2,930 votes carrying a value of 700,244 while the former Lok Sabha Speaker secured 1,844 votes with a value of 367,314, the highest vote value recorded by any losing candidate in all the Presidential elections held so far. The electoral college consisted of 4,986 voters with a total vote value of 10,98,903. Seventy seven votes with a value of 20,942 were found to be invalid.

While Kovind got 65.65 per cent of the total valid votes with a value of 10,69,358, Meira Kumar got 34.35 per cent. MPs and MLAs are eligible to vote in the Presidential election. Of the votes of MPs, Kovind got 522 compared to 225 by Meira Kumar. The value of votes of MPs received by Kovind was 369,576 and that by Kumar was 159,300. In Andhra Pradesh, where Congress has one MLA, Meira Kumar drew a blank with all non-BJP parties voting for Kovind. 

Announcing the election of Kovind, Returning Officer and Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra said Kovind had got the required votes under the quota allotted to him in the preferential vote system under the Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections Act."I declare Ram Nath Kovind as duly elected to the Office of President," he said at the end of the counting process that lasted more than five hours.

How cross-voting by Opposition lawmakers boosted his bid: 

Analysis of results shows that cross-voting took place in favour of Kovind by about eight legislators in Uttar Pradesh and nearly 11 in Gujarat, where state elections are due for the year-end. Kovind got about nine votes more than expected in Maharashtra, three in Assam, two each in Punjab and Delhi, two in Goa and five extra votes in West Bengal. 

The extra votes in his favour are believed to have come from Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab and from Congress in Goa. In West Bengal, opposition parties alleged that the Trinamool MLAs did the cross-voting. State Congress spokesperson Om Prakash Mishra said the Trinamool lawmakers were facing heat over CBI investigations into multiple scams, so they were in "secret understanding with the BJP".

In Delhi, the BJP has only four MLAs. Kovind has got two more votes, including apparently of Kapil Mishra, the suspended Aam Aadmw Party MLA.In Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party (SP) is riven by factional strife, Shivpal Singh Yadav, the brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav, had openly declared that he and some other MLAs voted for Kovind.
In Tripura, six suspended lawmakers voted for the winning candidate. In Gujarat, as many as 11 Gujarat Congress legislators are learnt to have cast their votes in favour of Kovind. 

Reactions:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Ministers and leaders of allied parties congratulated Kovind on his victory. "Best wishes for a fruitful and inspiring tenure," Modi tweeted. He also said he was gladdened by the extensive support for Kovind among MPs and across various states. "I thank members of the electoral college," the Prime Minister said. 

BJP President Amit Shah said Kovind's "truly historic" victory was for the poor, downtrodden and the marginalised and their aspirations.

Meira Kumar also congratulated Kovind. "I extend my good wishes to him as it has fallen upon him to uphold the Constitution of India in this most challenging time."

Later, Modi, accompanied by Shah and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, visited Kovind's residence here and greeted him. He presented a stole and a flower and offered him sweets.

(With inputs from agencies)