K.R. Narayanan was the first Indian President from the Dalit community. He was also the first person from Kerala to be elected as the President of our nation. Narayanan was the tenth President of India.
Narayanan did not hesitate to speak his mind, and he is regarded as an independent and assertive President, who set several precedents, and enlarged the scope of the highest constitutional office.
After finishing his studies, Narayanan was appointed in the Indian Foreign Service on the advice of Nehru. He then went on to be the Indian Ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, and China.
In 1980, he was appointed as India’s Ambassador to the United States. After he returned, in the next general elections, he contested from the Ottappalam constituency as a Congress candidate. He got elected by a fair margin, becoming the Minister of State in Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet. He later became the Minister for Science and Technology as well.
Narayanan was elected as Lok Sabha member two more times. He became the Vice President of the country in 1992. In 1997, he succeeded Shankar Dayal Sharma as the 10th President of India, occupying the office till 2002.
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