New Delhi: The Parliament will host a farewell for outgoing President of India Ram Nath Kovind at the Central Hall on Saturday.
Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and other Members of Parliament will be present at the gathering slated to be held at 5:30 PM today, according to sources cited by news agency ANI.
During the evening, a farewell speech will be delivered by Speaker Om Birla. The Speaker will hand over a certification of appreciation to the President along with a book signed by all Members of Parliament.
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The book which is needed to be signed by all Members of Parliament was placed in the Central Hall of Parliament between July 18 and 21 for them to sign their names.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hosted a dinner for President Ram Nath Kovind with members of the Union Cabinet, chief ministers of various states, and other dignitaries in attendance.
President-elect Droupadi Murmu also attended the farewell dinner.
News agency PTI reported official sources as saying that the dinner had a good representation from all parts of the country, including many Padma awardees and tribal leaders.
A PTI source called the gathering "unique" as it did not have the usual Delhi-centric crowd and the emphasis was to make it more representative.
In a tweet, PM Modi wrote, "Hosted dinner in honour of President Kovind Ji. Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji, Venkaiah Ji, and other esteemed dignitaries, including ministers were present. We were also glad to welcome several grassroots level achievers, Padma awardees, tribal community leaders and others at the dinner."
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and members of the prime minister's Cabinet were present at the event.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also attended the dinner.
The term of the outgoing President of India Ram Nath Kovind ends on July 24 (Sunday). After retiring as President of India, Ram Nath Kovind will move to the residence allotted to him at 12, Janpath Road which was previously occupied by late Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Murmu was elected to be the next President of India on Friday after she comprehensively defeated the opposition's presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha.
She will take oath at the Central Hall of Parliament on Monday.
(With Agency Inputs)