Presidential elections 2017: Who is Ram Nath Kovind, NDA's candidate for President?

Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind is the NDA canditate for president, BJP chief Amit Shah announced on June 19.

The decision was taken after a BJP Parliamentary Board meeting. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, and other political leaders," Shah said. "Kovind will file nomination on June 23. We have simply informed other leaders," said Shah . "I am hoping for consensus on Kovind's candidature," Shah said.

Here are five things to know about BJP's presidential candidate:

1. Ram Nath Kovind was born on October 1, 1945 in Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh, and is the current governor of Bihar.

2. Kovind has been a member of Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh for two terms: between 1994-2000 and 2000-2006.

3. The 71-year-old is a Dalit leader and has headed the BJP's Scheduled Caste Morcha between 1999 and 2002. He was also chairman of Rajya Sabha House Committee

4. He has been working and raising various issues related to Dalits and Scheduled Castes, and has served in many committees, including Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, Parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, among others.

5. Kovind has B Com, LLB from Kanpur University and was the central government advocate in Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979. He became advocate-on-record of the Supreme Court of India in 1978.

Presidential elections: Opposition must reject BJP's dangerous ploy for consensus