NDA’s Ram Nath Kovind defeated Opposition’s candidate Meira Kumar to officially become the 14th President of India. He will be sworn in on 25 July.
'Never Thought He Would Become President': Kovind's Wife
“Never thought he would become President but he has risen through hard work and honesty,” said a delighted Savita Kovind after her husband Ram Nath Kovind was elected as the country's next president.
Daughter Swati Kovind was equally ecstatic, saying she is proud of her father’s human qualities – as a loving parent and a caring person.
“It is a very proud moment for us. The country is celebrating. He has been connected with people through social work and also when he was the Bihar governor. We are all delighted,” she said.
Kovind Led in 21 States
The states where Kovind trounced Meira Kumar are:
- Andhra Pradesh (171 votes to nil)
- Arunachal Pradesh (56-24)
- Assam (91-35)
- Bihar (130-109)
- Chhattisgarh (52-35)
- Goa (25-11)
- Gujarat (132-49)
- Haryana (73-16)
- Jammu and Kashmir (56-30)
- Jharkhand (51-26)
- Madhya Pradesh (171-57)
- Maharashtra (208-77)
- Manipur (37-19)
- Nagaland (56-1)
- Odisha (127-17)
- Rajasthan (166-34)
- Sikkim (28-1)
- Tamil Nadu (134-98)
- Telangana (97-20)
- Uttarakhand (59-11)
- Uttar Pradesh (335-65)
Kovind's Vote Share Lowest Since 1974
Ram Nath Kovind might have won the presidential election comfortably, but his vote share is the lowest since 1974, figures reveal.
According to Election Commission data, Kovind's immediate predecessor Pranab Mukherjee (2012) secured 69.31 percent votes while Pratibha Patil (2007) got 65.82 percent of the total votes.
K R Narayanan (1997) and A P J Abdul Kalam (2002) bagged 94.97 percent and 89.57 percent respectively, the highest victory percentages since 1974. Only Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, in 1977, was elected unopposed to the top constitutional post. Gyani Zail Singh (1982) got 72.73 percent votes, while R Venkatraman (1987) bagged 72.28 per cent. Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992) got 65.87 percent.
Besides Narayanan, only two presidents – Rajendra Prasad (98.99 per cent) in 1957, and Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (98.24 per cent) in 1962 – secured over 90 percent of the votes. In the first presidential election, Prasad bagged 83.81 votes.