BANGALORE: HR BHardwaj took over as the 16th governor of Karnataka after being sworn-in by Chief Justice PD Dinakaran on Monday. Bharadwaj was sworn in at the Glass House in Raj Bhavan in Bangalore.
BHardwaj, who was the Union Minister for Law and Justice in the last UPA government, replaces Rameshwar Thakur. Thakur has been shifted to Madhya Pradesh. He had served for two years as governor in Karnataka.
After taking oath, Bharadwaj said, “I have no doubt that the duty of the head of the state is to protect every citizen of the state, irrespective of caste and creed. We need to bring in confidence among the public in order to bring down the communal rivalry in the society,” said.
“I would suggest only best things for the state, as the duty of the head of the state is to be a custodian of democracy and the constitution,” he added.
The octogenarian Thakur, a native of Bihar and a former Union minister, was appointed with a month remaining for the JD(S) government to hand over power to the BJP, its coalition partner.
Chief Minister, BS Yeddyurappa, Legislative Assembly (LA) Speaker Jgadeesh Shettar, Legislatibve Council Speaker, Veeranna Mattikatti, Home Minister VS Acharya, Opposition leader of LA Siddaramaiha, opposition leader of Legislative council, Ugrappa, Minister for Water Resources Basavaraj Bommai, Bangalore North MP, D B Chandregowda and Myosre MP H Vishwanath were present during oath-taking ceremony.