Ram Nath Kovind was today sworn in as the 14th president of India in an impressive ceremony at the Central Hall of the Parliament. He will be the second dalit president to be sworn in after K.R. Narayanan.
Dressed in a black bandh-gala, 71-year old Kovind, accompanied by his wife Savita, started his official engagements of the day with a visit to the Rajghat. Kovind then met Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Soon, the duo were escorted to the Central Hall of the Parliament in a Mercedes car by the mounted guard.
The Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar administered the oath of office to Kovind in Hindi, following which he exchanged seats with Mukherjee.
“I came from a small village and grew up in a mud house. It has been a long journey for me. Not for me but many of our countrymen,” he said at the onset of his speech. In his first address as the President of India, Kovind invoked his predecessors Rajendra Prasad, Sarvapalli Radhrakrishan and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Kovind emphasised on improving the conditions of the poor and marginalised people, farmers, armymen, scientists, youth, women, tribals and teachers, whom he called the “nation builders”. Kovind referred to the principle of Vasudeva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) and stated that he is a proud citizen of the culture and heritage of India.
“We should remember that our efforts should be to help the last person in the queue and the daughter of any poor family. Our efforts should reach the last family of the last village,” Kovind stressed. “We should build a fast-growing economy and an educated, moral, egalitarian community with the same value system as those envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi and Deen Dayal Upadhaya.”
The biggest takeaway from his speech was that it was in tune with the focus of the Narendra Modi government's vision as articulated by the PM himself.
After the speech, Kovind came down from the dais to shake hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former President Pratibha Patil, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cabinet ministers, BJP patriarchs L.K. Advani and M.M. Joshi, and other senior leaders across political spectrum. Also present in the Central Hall were chief ministers, mostly from BJP-ruled states.
Rains greeted the ceremonial guard as Kovind and Mukherjee started their journey towards the Rashtrapati Bhawan in a car. Mukherjee took him inside the president's house and offered the chair.
The outgoing president will shift to his retirement home, earlier occupied by former president Kalam.
Kovind will be assisted by a team hand-picked by the NDA government. Sanjay Kothari IAS will be his secretary, Gujarat’s resident commissioner Bharat Lal will be the joint secretary and journalist Ashok Malik has been appointed as the press secretary.
Kovind's official twitter handle also changed as he was sworn in. “Honoured to be sworn in as the 14th President of India; would be carrying out my responsibilities with all humility,” Kovind's first tweet said.
Mukherjee's official tweets have been archived under a new twitter handle. His last tweet as India's president read: “Thank you for your affection & support; tomorrow when I engage with you it will not be as President but as a citizen.”
