Aizawl: VK Singh, former Army chief was sworn in as Mizoram's new governor on Thursday.
He is Mizoram's 25th governor since its statehood in 1987. Singh, a former Union minister, succeeded Hari Babu Kambhampati, who was named Governor of Odisha. Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi of the Gauhati High Court administered Singh's oath of office and secrecy during a ceremony at Aizawl's Raj Bhavan.
The ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Lalduhoma and his cabinet colleagues, Assembly Speaker Lalbiakzama, Deputy Speaker Lalfamkima, MPs, MLAs, senior bureaucrats and top police officers.
Former CMs Lal Thanhawla and Zoramthanga were also present at the programme, besides church leaders and representatives of different organisations.
Singh was appointed the governor by President Droupadi Murmu on December 24.
Although the oath-taking ceremony was initially scheduled for January 9, it had been deferred to January 16 due to the health issues of Singh's relative.
Born in 1951, Singh served as the 24th Chief of Army Staff, from 2010 to 2012.
After he retired from the military, he joined the BJP in 2014 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Ghaziabad constituency in UP in that year's general election. He was re-elected in the same seat in 2019.
During PM Narendra Modi's first term, he served as the Minister of State for External Affairs, MoS (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), and MoS for Statistics and Programme Implementation.
He was the MoS for Road Transport and Highways, and Civil Aviation in Modi's second term.
With PTI inputs