Ramnath Kovind Biography - Birth date, Achievements, Career, Family, Awards

Ramnath Kovind was born on 01 October 1945 in a small village, Paroukh, in Kanpur district (presently Kanpur Dehat district) of the country's largest state Uttar Pradesh. His father's name was Macu Lal and mother's name was Kalavati. His father used to be less of a businessman and a physician. Ramnath Kovind's parents had eight children Ramnath Kovind also has 4 brothers and 3 sisters.

After his primary schooling, he had to go to Kanpur village, 8 km away, to attend junior school, as no one had a bicycle in the village. He holds a bachelor's degree in commerce and an LLB degree from DAV College (affiliated to Kanpur University).

After graduating in law from DAV College, Kanpur, Kovind moved to Delhi to prepare for the Civil Services Examination. He passed this test in his third attempt, but did not attend it as he had scored high enough to work in an allied service instead of just IAS and thus started practicing law. Kovind joined the Bar Council of Delhi in 1971 as a lawyer. He was a lawyer for the Central Government in the Delhi High Court from the year 1977 to 1979.

Between 1977 and 1978, he also served as a personal assistant to the Prime Minister of India, Morarji Desai. In 1978, he became a lawyer-on-record of the Supreme Court of India and from 1980 to 1993 served as a permanent advocate for the Central Government in the Supreme Court of India. He practiced in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court till 1993. As a lawyer, he provided free assistance to the weaker sections of the society, women and the poor under the Free Legal Aid Society of New Delhi.

He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1991. He was president of BJP Dalit Morcha and president of All India Koli Samaj between 1998 and 2002. He also served as the party's national spokesperson. He donated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at his ancestral home, Derapur.

Soon after joining the BJP, he contested for Ghatampur assembly constituency, but lost and later contested in Bhoganipur (in 2007) (both in Uttar Pradesh) assembly constituency on a BJP ticket, but lost again. Became a Rajya Sabha MP from the state of Uttar Pradesh in April 1994. He served for twelve consecutive years, twice in a row, until March 2006. As a Member of Parliament, he visited Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and the United States for study visits. He took Dr. Served on the Management Board of BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow and as the Board of Governors of IIM Kolkata. He has also represented India at the United Nations and addressed the United Nations General Assembly in October 2002.

On 8 August 2015, the then President of India appointed Kovind as the Governor of Bihar. On 16 August 2015, Kovind was sworn in as the 26th Governor of Bihar by Acting Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari of the Patna High Court. In June 2017, when Kovind was declared a candidate for the presidential election, following his nomination for the post of 14th President of India, he resigned from his post as Governor of Bihar, and President of India Pranab Mukherjee Accepted his resignation on 20 June 2017. He won the election on 20 July 2017. On 25 July 2017 he was the second Dalit person from India to assume the presidency.