President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife Savita Kovind paid floral tributes to the portrait of Giani Zail Singh, former President, on his 102nd birth anniversary at Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Saturday.
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, his spouse Pushpa Devi Purohit, Minister for Commercial Taxes K C Veeramani, additional chief secretary to governor R Rajagopal were present, at Raj Bhavan.
President Kovind is on a two-day visit to Tamil Nadu and he is scheduled to return to Delhi later in the day today.
He had participated in the centenary celebrations of the ‘Medical Education Programme of Christian Medical College’ at Vellore, about 135 km from Chennai on Friday.
About Giani Zail Singh
Giani Zail Singh was the seventh President of India, serving from 1982 to 1987. Prior to his presidency, he was a politician with the Indian National Congress party, and had held several ministerial posts in the Union Cabinet, including that of Home Minister.
He also served as the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1983 to 1986.
His presidency was marked by Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He died of injuries in 1994 after a car accident.