President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday (June 27) arrived in Uttar Pradesh for a three-day trip. According to the schedule, President visited his native village Paraunkh. In a heart-warming and emotional gesture, the President bowed and touched the ground to pay obeisance to the land of his birth.
Rashtrapati Bhavan has shared the pictures on Twitter, showing the President of India bowing down to the ground shortly after landing at the helipad near his village Paraunkh, in the Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh. The caption reads, “In a rare emotional gesture, after landing at the helipad near his village, Paraunkh of Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh, President Ram Nath Kovind bowed and touched the soil to pay obeisance to the land of his birth.”
“I’d never imagined even in my dreams that an ordinary boy like me from a village would get privilege of discharging responsibilities of the highest office of the country. But our democratic system has made it possible, said Kovind at Jan Abhinandan Samaroh in Kanpur Dehat.
President Kovind was flanked by UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and state governor Anandiben Patel, both of who bowed their heads in a respectful gesture. The President took a bit of the soil and applied it on his forehead, supposedly as a sign of reverence for his native land.
Extending greetings to his fellow citizens, President Kovind said, “Today, on this occasion, I bow to the freedom fighters of the country and the drafting committee of the Constitution for their sacrifice and contribution. As far as I have reached today, the credit goes to the soil of this village and the love and blessings of all of you.”
Recalling his childhood and friends from the era, the President said that he was more than happy to come back to his native village. “Wherever you are, I am too,” he said, “I am only called the first citizen as the President.” Earlier, it would have been difficult to get out of this village but not so now, the President added, hailing the democratic system of the country which, as he put it, has opened a way forward for everyone, irrespective of their status at birth, to achieve important milestones.
