Ram Nath Kovind to take over as country's 14th President today

Mr Ramnath Kovind will take over as the 14th President of India today. He will be administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India Justice JS Khehar at a special function in the Central hall of Parliament.

Before the ceremony Mr Kovind is scheduled to visit Rajghat to pay his respect to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Then, President Pranab Mukherjee and President-elect Mr Kovind will have a one-on-one discussion. 

From the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President-elect and the incumbent will proceed in a ceremonial cavalcade. At the Parliament both will be received by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. 

The dais at the central hall will be shared by President and President-elect, Speaker, Vice President and Chief Justice of India. After the oath the new President will be honored with a 21-gun salute followed by the acceptance speech of Mr Kovind. 

After the event



the new president and Mr Mukherjee will proceed towards Rashtrapati Bhavan where outgoing President will give Mr Kovind a tour of the official residence. After an inter-services guard of honour, Mr Mukherjee will proceed to his new residence - 10, Rajaji Marg. 

Mr Kovind was elected the President on Thursday as a ruling NDA candidate. He defeated the Opposition parties' nominee Meira Kumar by a huge margin.Ram Nath Kovind who served as the 35th Governor of Bihar was born on 1st October 1945 in Paraukh village in the Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh. 

Only the 2nd Dalit leader ever to be elected to the post, Mr kovind did his graduation in law from a Kanpur college.Before start his career as a lawyer, Mr Kovind cleared the civil services examination but did not join as he was selected for an allied. Mr Kovind joined the BJP in 1991. He was President of the BJP Dalit Morcha between 1998 and 2002. He also served as Member of Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006.