President-elect Ram Nath Kovind today sworn in as the 14th President. The oath taking ceremony was held at the Central Hall of Parliament attracted a host of politicians, ministers and major dignitaries.
Justice JS Khehar administered the oath for President Kovind, who sincerely repeated the oath after Justice Khehar spelled it.
Mr. Kovind’s swearing-in ceremony was attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Ministers, Ambassadors and other diplomats, MPs, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, union ministers, Governors and senior civil and military officers.
President Kovind’s day started with a visit at the Rajghat, where he paid tribute and respect to Mahatma Gandhi. Post that, Kovind was welcomed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Pranab Mukherjee.
President Pranab Mukherjee will now be living in a government alloted house and will receive a monthly pension of Rs 75000.
Ram Nath Kovind used to live in a mud hut when he was younger. Gradually, he became the Governor of Bihar. NDA fielded in Kovind as their presidential candidate. He defeated INC candidate Meira Kumar by clinching almost 65.65 per cent of the total 702,044 electoral votes.
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“We are a country of great diversity, yet have shown that unity is the way forward. We are a peaceful nation and are now at a stage where we have to take the country forward… We are proud of our heritage and culture… it is now time we show the world what India is capable of,” President Kovind said in his speech.
Talking about his days at the Parliament, Kovind said that sometimes we dissented and sometimes we agreed — he defined it as the beauty of democracy. “Often we agreed, sometimes we disagreed. But we learnt to respect each other and that is the beauty of democracy,” President Kovind said.
