New President welcomed in style

New Delhi: For the 14th time in India’s history, a new President stepped into the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, on a day of ceremony and regalia that started with a gentle knock on the door of Ram Nath Kovind’s Akbar Road residence in the morning. It was military secretary to the President, Major General Anil Khosla, inviting 71-year-old Kovind and his wife Savita to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where President Pranab Mukherjee was waiting for them in the study. A few hours later, the roles had reversed and President Kovind escorted Mukherjee out of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Mukherjee took the last salute of the President's Bodyguard (PBG), the cavalry regiment of the Indian Army, with Kovind standing to his left. He and his successor drove down Raisina Hill to the Central Hall of the Parliament in a black limousine, with Mukherjee in the right and Kovind on the left.

Escorting them was a grand equestrian procession by the PBG, dressed in white ceremonial uniforms and blue turbans with gold ornamental work. 

The road from Rashtrapati Bhavan to Parliament was lined with 1,000 jawans from all three services offering the traditional ‘hazaar salaam’ to the President — the supreme commander of the defence forces. After the oath ceremony, Kovind met leaders in Central Hall before leaving for the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presidential limousine, this time with Mukherjee in the left and him on the right.

After taking charge, Kovind came out to the forecourt in the Presidential buggy, a black carriage with national emblem — the Ashoka insignia — embossed in gold and drawn by six horses. It was Mukherjee who had revived the tradition of the buggy ride.

Kovind then accompanied Mukherjee to see him off to his new residence at 10, Rajaji Marg which was once occupied by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.