BHOPAL: BJP leader and former Gujarat minister Mangubhai Chaganbhai Patel took oath as the governor of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.
He is the 30th governor of MP, Raj Bhawan sources said.
Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq administered the oath to Patel at a function in the Raj Bhawan here.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, who was holding the additional charge of Madhya Pradesh since June last year, was present on the occasion.
MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Kamal Nath were also present.
Patel (77), a native of Navsari in south Gujarat and a well-known tribal leader of the BJP, was appointed as the governor of Madhya Pradesh by President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday.
After the announcement, Patel had told reporters at his residence at Navsari in Gujarat that he will try his best to fulfil his new responsibility.
"The BJP is a party which believes in taking along all communities. I thank President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other leaders for giving me this new responsibility," Patel had said.
He had been an MLA for six terms and earlier served as a minister in the Gujarat BJP government.
He was also the Gujarat Assembly's Deputy Speaker in 2013.
Patel started his political career as a member of the Navsari municipality in 1982, and went on to win the Assembly elections from the Navsari seat five times and once from Gandevi seat in 2012.