BENGALURU: Governor-designate Thawar Chand Gehlot will be sworn in at 10.30 am on Sunday by Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Abhay Srinivas Oka, who will administer the oath of office and secrecy. Gehlot (73), who was Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, and was leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, will be the 19th governor of the state, after the President announced his appointment on July 6. His predecessor Vajubhai Vala has been the governor since 2014.
Sources in the government said Thawar Chand Gehlot will leave Delhi at 10.30 am on Saturday by a special flight and arrive in Bengaluru around 1 pm. He will be accompanied by a team of bureaucrats - Ramesh Kumar Neeraj Semwal, Pankaj Kumar Mehta, Yogesh Upadhyay, Shankar Lal and the ADC. The sources said he will be received at Raj Bhavan with a guard of honour and a welcome meal has been planned at the Raj Bhavan for the Governor-designate on Saturday afternoon.On Friday, incumbent governor Vajubhai Vala oversaw the arrangements for the swearing-in of Gehlot.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi told The New Indian Express, “Thawar Chand Gehlot comes from a very ordinary background and has served at the highest levels. He has served as Union minister, both in the Vajpayee government and in the present government. He was floor leader in the Rajya Sabha and also served as minister in Madhya Pradesh. Yet, there is not a shred of pride in him.
He has been extremely efficient as a minister, often with data at his fingertips, even about ordinary details like equipment being given to the physically challenged under his ministry.’’ BJP National General Secretary C T Ravi said, “He has about 50 years of experience in public life. He has been Union minister, parliamentary board member and has been member of both the both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.’’