Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind resigns

Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind resigned from his post on 20 June 2017. His resignation came following his nomination as the NDA’s Presidential Candidate. His resignation was accepted by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Subsequently, West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was assigned the responsibility to serve as the Governor of Bihar, in addition to his own duties.

Ram Nath Kovind was on 19 June 2017 declared as the NDA candidate for upcoming Presidential Elections as Mukherjee will complete his five-year term as the President on 24 July 2017.

If elected, Kovind, a two-term BJP Rajya Sabha member, will only be second Dalit to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan after K R Narayanan.

Kovind belongs to the Dalit community Koli and had worked extensively in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. A lawyer by profession, Kovind had also served as BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha chief (1998-2002) and President of the All-India Koli Samaj.