The BJP on Monday declared Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as the NDA candidate for the presidential election. If he wins, as is likely, India is likely to hear a good deal from Kovind in the course of official speeches, most notably in Parliament.

The 71-year-old Dalit politician from Kanpur, who was previously a BJP spokesperson, also previously practised as a Supreme Court lawyer. And his speeches reveal an assured eloquence that should serve him – and audiences – well were he to become the next President of India.

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The video above shows Kovind addressing students, during a seminar on BR Ambedkar, on the subject of women not having the right to ancestral property in India.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman describes Kovind as “soft-spoken, well-read and articulate”. The video below is of him inaugurating a new building of the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library:

This is Kovind in the Rajya Sabha in 2000, where he served from 1994 to 2006.

Here are three other speeches Kovind made on various occasions – all well before his candidature was announced.