Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind Declared NDA’s Nominee For President

Ram Nath Kovind, who is the current Governor of Bihar, has been declared as the candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Part (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the 17 July presidential elections.

The 71-year-old BJP veteran was elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh during the two terms of 1994-2000 and 2000-2006. He served as central government’s advocate in Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979 and became Advocate-on-Record of the Supreme Court of India in 1978. He was appointed Bihar’s governor on 8 August 2015. In the past, he has served as the president of the BJP Dalit Morcha, president of the All-India Koli Samaj and national spokesperson of the party.

The decision to file Kovind was taken by the party’s parliamentary board earlier today and announced by BJP chief Amit Shah. The parliamentary opposition, including the Congress party, has been informed about the BJP’s decision.

No decision has yet been taken on the Vice President nominee, Shah said.