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Updated June 4th, 2022 at 11:26 IST

President Kovind 'breaks protocol' to welcome 'Atithi' PM Modi to his native village in UP

PM Modi said, though he felt embarrassed by the gesture, it showed that the President embodied both constitutional values as well as cultural values.

Reported by: Gloria Methri
Ram Nath Kovind, PM Modi
Image: Twitter | Image:self
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Paraunkh, the remote village in UP’s Kanpur, witnessed an unusual sight on Friday when President Ram Nath Kovind broke the protocol to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his native place. While delivering a speech later, PM Modi recalled President Kovind as saying, "I came to the helipad personally since you are an “Atithi (guest) of his village”. 

The Prime Minister added that though he felt embarrassed by the gesture, it showed that the President embodied both constitutional values as well as cultural values.

"The President has shown as an example of how the sanskar of “atithi devo bhava (the guest is equivalent to god) is in our veins," said PM Modi, who was on a brief visit to the state. 

 At one point during the speech, President even got up with folded hands in response to Modi's “pranam” as he expressed gratitude for the reception at the helipad.

“The world is becoming a witness to the cultural values that the President has imbibed from the land of Paraunkh,” PM said in his speech. Today in the village, the President went beyond the protocols created for his position and surprised me. He himself came to the helipad to receive me. I felt embarrassed as we work under his guidance and his post has its own seniority and respect,” he said.

When PM Modi told President Kovind “you have done injustice to me”, he replied saying, “I do respect the Constitution but cultural values have importance too. Today, you have come to my village. I have come here to receive a guest, I have not come as the President.”

Ram Nath Kovind thanks PM Modi for Presidentship

Though the President did not refer to the incident in his speech, he said that his ancestral village and the district were “obliged” to the Prime Minister for making the visit.

“The people of this state feel proud that a person from the state has been given the top constitutional post of the country and the credit for that goes to you, Prime Minister,” he said.

President Kovind said he was impressed when PM Modi “gave responsibility to someone like him who was born into a poor family of the state”.

Kovind said the people of UP had always felt that the state had given nine Prime Ministers to the country but not a President. He also praised Modi for “giving new meaning to the term ‘Bharat Mata ki sewa’ (serving mother India)”.

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Published June 4th, 2022 at 11:26 IST

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