THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is set to assume office as Kerala governor on January 2. He’s expected to reach the state capital on Wednesday and the swearing-in ceremony is expected to be held at the Raj Bhavan on Thursday.
Outgoing Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is set to replace Arlekar as the Bihar governor, is expected to take charge the same day.
He will leave for Delhi from Kochi on December 29. The next day,he will leave for Patna.
It’s not clear whether the state government will organise an official send-off with a guard of honour to Khan, since the country is going through a seven-day official mourning till January 1 on account of the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Meanwhile, Khan on Friday called on Baselios Cleemis, the Major Archbishop Catholicos of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church at Major Archbishop House Pattom. He also visited the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram in the state capital.
Khan is demitting office amidst a long standoff between the Raj Bhavan and the LDF government. It’s the culmination of an eventful tenure at Raj Bhavan.
Khan had openly lashed out at the state government for its interference in the higher education sector, and the Left leadership had in turn accused him of trying to politicise the sector.
While Khan put the government under pressure by sitting on some of the legislations it passed, the government had approached both the Supreme Court and the President against him.