Chandigarh, July 21 (IANS) Academician Ashim Kumar Ghosh was sworn in as the 19th Governor of Haryana, succeeding Bandaru Dattatraya, on Monday.

The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Sheel Nagu, at a simple but dignified ceremony held at the Haryana Raj Bhavan here.

Prof Ghosh, a distinguished academician and experienced political leader, served as the head of the Department of Political Science at a reputed college in Kolkata for nearly four decades. He has actively contributed to academic research and political discourse, having worked on University Grants Commission (UGC) and Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) projects and authored several articles in prominent publications.

Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini were present at the swearing-in ceremony. Also present on the occasion were the Governor’s wife, Mitra Ghosh, Chief Minister’s wife Suman Saini and members of the Governor’s family.

Ghosh’s elevation as a governor is being seen as both an acknowledgement of his long political journey and a gesture of respect towards the older generation of BJP leaders who built the party’s foundations in West Bengal, where it long remained marginal. His tenure as the party’s state president, from 1999 to 2002, coincided with a period of modest growth and consolidation for the BJP in Bengal.

Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Harvinder Kalyan, Cabinet Ministers Krishan Lal Panwar, Mahipal Dhanda, Arvind Sharma, Shyam Singh Rana, Ranbir Gangwa, Krishna Kumar Bedi and Shruti Chaudhary, Ministers of State Rajesh Nagar and Gaurav Gautam, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, Secretary to Governor, Atul Dwivedi, a number of MLAs, Vice Chancellors of universities and senior officials were also present at the ceremony.

Following the ceremony, Governor Ghosh personally greeted dignitaries and accepted felicitations. On this occasion, a special contingent of the Haryana Armed Police presented a guard of honour to the Governor.

–IANS

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