Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 15 : Acharya Devvrat, who has been serving as the Governor of Gujarat, was on Monday sworn in as the Governor of Maharashtra in a solemn ceremony held at the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan in Mumbai.
Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Justice Shree Chandrashekhar administered the oath of office to Devvrat. Significantly, the Governor chose to read his oath in Sanskrit, drawing attention to the rich cultural heritage of the language.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Chief Justice Chandrashekhar congratulated the newly sworn-in Governor by presenting him with bouquets. The Indian Navy presented a ceremonial Guard of Honour on the occasion.
Acharya Devvrat succeeds C P Radhakrishnan, who demitted office after being elected as the Vice President of India. To fill the vacancy, the President of India had earlier assigned Maharashtra's charge to Devvrat by order.
State Chief Secretary Rajesh Kumar read out the Warrant of Appointment issued by the President of India before the oath ceremony. The proceedings began with the rendition of the National Anthem and the State Song by the Police Band and concluded with the National Anthem.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by several dignitaries, ministers, legislators, senior officials and invitees. Among those present were the Governor's wife, Darshana Devi, Chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council Prof Ram Shinde, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Rahul Narwekar, Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council Dr Neelam Gorhe, Minister of Skill Development Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Sports Minister Manikrao Kokate, Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla and ACS (Protocol) Manisha Mhaiskar.
Acharya Devvrat, known for his long association with education and social reform, has been serving as the Governor of Gujarat since July 2019. Prior to that, he held the office of Governor of Himachal Pradesh from 2015 to 2019.
Meanwhile, the NDA nominee Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan (CP Radhakrishnan) was elected as the 15th Vice President of India on September 9, securing 452 votes against the Opposition candidate and former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, who received 300 votes.
Following the elections, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan on Friday assumed charge as the Rajya Sabha chairman after taking oath as the Vice-President of India. President Droupadi Murmu administered his oath at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
After the swearing-in ceremony, the Vice-President paid floral tribute at the memorials of Mahatma Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Chaudhary Charan Singh. Later, the Vice-President visited Parliament House Complex, where he was welcomed by Union Ministers, the Deputy Chairman, Harivansh and the Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha. .