Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in a programme during the release of former President of India Ram Nath Kovind's autobiography, titled “Triumph of the Indian Republic: My Life, My Struggles”, on 12 August, 2026 in Delhi. The autobiography offers a deeply personal account of Kovind’s remarkable life journey and provides insights into the values, experiences and circumstances that shaped his life and public service. Ram Nath Kovind was born in a Koli family on October 1, 1945, in Paraunkh village in the Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh.

He joined the BJP in 1991 and later became the Chief of the BJP Dalit Morcha between 1998 and 2002 and the president of the All-India Koli Samaj. Soon after joining the BJP, Kovind contested the Ghatampur Assembly constituency, but lost, and later contested Bhognipur in the 2007 Assembly elections on the BJP ticket but lost again. In April 1994, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. He served a total of 12 years, two consecutive terms, until March 2006. He served as the President of India from 2017 to 2022. He was the first person from Uttar Pradesh, as well as the first person from the BJP, to hold the top Constitutional post in the country.