NEW DELHI: Hindu revivalism consolidated its hold on Indian politics on Thursday with the first ever election of a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate as the country’s president.

Ram Nath Kovind is the second Dalit leader after Congress party’s K.R. Narayanan and the first politician linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to become the 14th head of state and the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.

He is also the first leader from Uttar Pradesh to occupy the highest constitutional position in the country.

Mr Kovind, a lawyer by profession and the father of two children, hails from Kanpur. He joined the BJP in 1991, in the wake of the Ayodhya temple movement, after working for over 20 years as a government advocate in the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee received an overwhelming majority of votes from the country’s lawmakers.

Mr Kovind defeated opposition candidate and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, garnering more than 65 per cent of the votes in the electoral college, the returning officer for the presidential election Anoop Mishra announced.

The 71-year-old former governor of Bihar received 2,930 votes with a value of 702,044, Mr Mishra said.

Ms Kumar, also a Dalit, polled 1,844 votes with a value of 367,314.

The electoral college comprises members of parliament and members of legislative assemblies of all the states.

A total of 4,896 voters — 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs — were eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states are not part of the electoral college.

While the value of an MLA’s vote depends on the population of his or her State, the value of an MP’s vote remains the same at 708.

The vice-president’s election will be held on August 5. Former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu is the NDA candidate, and former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi is the opposition pick.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2017