New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind boarded a special train here on Friday to pay a visit to his native village Paraunkh in the Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
This is his first visit to his birthplace after assuming the highest office in India, an official statement said.
It has been 15 years since the President of India traveled by railroad. The last President to choose this mode of transport was Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who had boarded a special train from Delhi to Dehradun in 2006 to participate in the Passing-Out Parade ceremony of graduating cadets at the Indian Military Academy (IMA).
President Kovind departed from New Delhi’s Safdarjung Railway station in a special Presidential train around 12.45 pm. The train passed through Aligarh, Tundla, Firozabad, and Etawah but halted only twice during the journey, at Jhinjhak and Roora in rural Kanpur, reports said.
Both of these places are very close to his birthplace. He also interacted with acquaintances from school, his days as a social worker, his relatives, and friends.
During the two-day visit to his village Paraunkh in Kanpur on Friday and Saturday, he will be greeted at two programs on June 27.
On June 28, he will board a train from Kanpur Central railway station to reach Lucknow on his 2-day visit to the state capital. On June 29, he will return to New Delhi via a special aircraft.
Reports said his earlier plans to visit his village could not materialize due to the pandemic.
An official statement said that his choice of travel was in consonance with some of his predecessors who also traveled by train to connect with people from different parts of the country.
The first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, used to frequently travel by train. He visited his birthplace, Jiradei in Siwan district, during his first visit to Bihar immediately after resuming office. He had boarded a special train from Chapra to reach Jiradei where he spent three days.
(Avya Mathur)