'Privilege to know you President-Elect': Narendra Modi tweets photo with Ram Nath Kovind taken 20 years ago

After NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind’s victory in the presidential election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday posted a tweet in which he stressed on how long he had shared a bond with the president-elect. In the tweet, Modi shared two pictures, one in which he is seen with Kovind and his family twenty years ago and another in which he is seen with Kovind and his family on Thursday, after Kovind’s election as President.

20 years ago and the present…always been a privilege to know you, President Elect. pic.twitter.com/IkhnOtYf8N

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017

Modi had tweeted another set of images showing him congratulating Kovind on his victory.

Met President Elect Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji and congratulated him. pic.twitter.com/IwFwMdezUY

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017

Kovind, a low-key lawyer-turned-politician, was elected on Thursday as India’s 14th president, the first BJP member and the second Dalit to occupy the country’s highest office. The 71-year-old Kovind defeated joint opposition candidate Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker, after garnering 65.65 percent of the votes in the electoral college. A former Bihar governor, Kovind received 2930 votes with a value of 7,02,044, election Returning Officer Anoop Mishra had said. Kumar got 1844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. The winning margin was not as big as forecast by the BJP, which had projected a 70 percent vote for Kovind. Outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee had received votes valued at 7,13,763. With inputs from PTI