Ram Nath Kovind to be first president in 15 years to undertake train journey

File image: President Ram Nath Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind will undertake a train journey on June 25 to visit his birthplace in Uttar Pradesh. It would be after a gap of 15 years that an incumbent president will travel by train.

At his birthplace in UP, Kovind will interact with his old acquaintances from school days and the early days of his social service.

This is the first time that Kovind will visit his birthplace after becoming the president, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement issued on June 23. Though he desired to visit the place earlier, it could not materialise because of the coronavirus pandemic.

As Kovind boards the train, the president will be travelling down the memory lane that will cover a span of seven decades of his life, right from his childhood to holding the top constitutional position in the country, the statement said.

Kovind will embark on a journey to Kanpur on a special presidential train from the Safdarjung railway station in Delhi on June 25.

"The train will make two stop-overs, at Jhinjhak and Rura of Kanpur Dehat, where the president will interact with his old acquaintances from his school days and from early days of his social service," the statement said.

The two stop-overs are close to the president's birthplace, Paraunkh village in Kanpur Dehat, where two functions to felicitate him are scheduled on June 27, it added.

On June 28, Kovind will again board the train at the Kanpur Central railway station to reach Lucknow for his two-day visit to UP's capital city. A day later, he will return to New Delhi on a special flight.

First time in 15 years

The last time an incumbent Indian president travelled by train was in 2006 when APJ Abdul Kalam boarded a special train from Delhi to Dehradun to attend the passing-out parade of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) cadets.

Records show that the country's first president, Rajendra Prasad, often undertook train journeys, according to the President's Secretariat.

Soon after taking office as the president, Prasad had visited his birthplace, Ziradei in Bihar's Siwan district. Prasad had boarded the president's special train from Chhapra to reach Ziradei, where he spent three days, the statement said. He had also travelled across the country by train.

(With inputs from PTI)