New Delhi
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday embarked on a train journey to visit his birthplace in Uttar Pradesh, where he will interact with his old acquaintances from school days and the early days of his social service. It would be after a gap of 15 years an incumbent president is travelling by train.
“President Kovind boards a special presidential train from Safdarjung railway station to Kanpur. The train will make 2 stopovers, at Jhinjhak and Rura of Kanpur Dehat, and will reach Kanpur Central in the evening,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal can also be seen in pictures tweeted by the Rashtrapati Bhavan of the president boarding the train.
This is the first time that Kovind will visit his birthplace after becoming the president.
Though he had desired to visit the place earlier, it could not materialise because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The last time a president travelled by train was in 2006 when APJ Abdul Kalam boarded a special train from Delhi to Dehradun to attend the passing-out parade of the Indian Military Academy cadets. Records show the country’s first president, Rajendra Prasad, often undertook train journeys.
