New Delhi [India], Oct. 27 : President Pranab Mukherjee today paid floral tributes to former President of India Kocheril Raman Narayanan on the occasion of his birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
The President, officers and various staff members paid tributes in front of a portrait of Narayanan in the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Narayanan was the tenth President of India. He served as ambassador to Japan, United Kingdom, Thailand, Turkey, People's Republic of China and United States of America and was referred to by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as "the best diplomat of the country".
He entered politics at Indira Gandhi's request and won three successive general elections to the Lok Sabha and served as a Minister of State in the Union Cabinet under former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Elected as the ninth Vice President in 1992, Narayanan went on to become President in 1997. He was the first - and, so far, only - member of the Dalit community, to hold the post. Narayanan died on November 9 in 2005 at the age of 85..
Source: ANI
