CHANDIGARH: BJP leader Kaptan Singh Solanki, 75, was on Sunday sworn-in as the 16th Governor of Haryana. He succeeds Jagannath Pahadia, whose term ended on Saturday.
Acting Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Ashutosh Mohunta administered the oath of office and secrecy to Solanki at the Raj Bhavan. A BJP Rajya Sabha member and an RSS leader, he took the oath in Hindi.
Solanki hails from Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh and was renominated to the Rajya Sabha in August, 2012.
Though Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was present, his Cabinet colleagues chose to skip the swearing-in ceremony. State BJP chief Ram Bilas Sharma and the party’s Ambala MP, Rattan Lal Kataria, were among the prominent saffron party leaders who attended the function. Senior administration and police officers of Haryana and Chandigarh were also present.
After assuming charge, in a brief interaction with the media, Solanki parried questions on the contentious Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Act, which the state government had promulgated recently.
The new Governor is expected to look into the legality of Haryana forming a separate Gurdwara Management Committee, which Punjab has strongly objected to.