PM Modi hosts farewell dinner for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind; Padma awardees, tribal leaders attend

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a dinner for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday, with members of the Union Cabinet, state chief ministers, and other dignitaries in attendance.

President-elect Droupadi Murmu also attended Kovind's farewell dinner on Monday. According to official reports, the event was well-attended by people from all over the country, including several Padma recipients and tribal leaders.

Hosted a dinner in honour of President Kovind Ji. Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji, Venkaiah Ji, other esteemed dignitaries including Ministers were present. We were also glad to welcome several grassroots level achievers, Padma awardees, tribal community leaders and others at the dinner. pic.twitter.com/Do9j2hneYK

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 22, 2022

According to a source, this dinner was "special" because it did not include the typical Delhi-centric crowd, and the emphasis was on making it more representative.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and members of the prime minister's Cabinet were present at the event. 

Murmu was unanimously elected as India's next President on Thursday, defeating the opposition's presidential candidate, Yashwant Sinha. On Monday, she will take the oath at the Central Hall of Parliament.

The presidency of Ram Nath Kovind began on July 25, 2017, when he took the oath as the fourteenth president of India.

Kovind was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and defeated the Indian National Congress (Congress)-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee and former speaker of Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar. Prior to being the presidential nominee, he was the governor of Bihar and a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha.

After retiring as President of India, Ram Nath Kovind will move to the residence allotted to him at 12, Janpath Road which was previously occupied by late Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.