Raipur: Biswa Bhusan Harichandan on Thursday took oath as the ninth governor of Chhattisgarh at a ceremony in the Raj Bhavan in the state capital. Chhattisgarh High Court Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami administered the oath of office to Harichandan at Darbar Hall in the Raj Bhawan. Governor Harichandan took oath in Hindi.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagel, State agriculture minister Ravindra Chaubey, Chattisgarh BJP president Arun Sao, former Chief minister Dr Raman Singh, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Narayan Chandel along with various senior officials were present in the ceremony.
Before this stint, he was the 23rd Governor of Andhra Pradesh from 24th July 2019 to 22nd February 2023. He has succeeded Anusuiya Uikey who took oath as Manipur Governor yesterday.
Syed Abdul Nazeer, a former retired judge of the Supreme Court who was also one of the five judges in the bench that delivered the famous Ramjanambhoomi case judgement, has been appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh and will succeed Harichandan.
Governor Harichandan was born in Odisha on 3rd August 1934. His father Parshuram Harichandan was one of Odisha's biggest litterateur. Harichandan has been a 5 time MLA representing Bhubaneshwar and Chilika constituencies in the Odisha assembly. His political innings started in 1971 when he joined the Jan Sangh. Before the consolidation of the Janta Party in 1977 he was Jan Sangh's General Secretary for Andhra Pradesh. While becoming founder president of the BJP in Odisha he helped the party set its footprints in the initial days.
He is also a poet and litterateur and a recipient of the Kalinga Ratna award in 2021. (ANI)
