Aizawl, Jan 15: Former Union Minister and Army chief, Gen Vijay Kumar Singh (retd) reached Mizoram on Wednesday and would assume the gubernatorial office on Thursday, officials said here on Wednesday.
A senior Mizoram government official said that Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi would administer the oath of office to Gen Singh (retd) as the 25th Governor of Mizoram at the Circular Lawn, Raj Bhavan here.
The Governor-Designate of Mizoram and First Lady-Designate Bharti Singh were accorded a warm reception on their arrival by Chief Minister Lalduhoma at the Lengpui Airport here. Apart from Chief Minister and his wife Liansailovi, Assembly Speaker Lalbiakzama, Home Minister K. Sapdanga, Chief Secretary Khilli Ram Meena, Director General of Police Anil Shukla and other senior civil, security and military officials were also present on the occasion.
A guard of honour was also accorded to the Governor-Designate at the state’s lone airport, around 30 km from Aizawl. Former Mizoram Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, who held the post for more than three years and five months, left the state on January 2 and took up the gubernatorial charge in Odisha the next day.
Gen Singh (retd) served as the 24th Chief of Army Staff and after retiring from the army, entered politics and was elected as a Member of Parliament from Ghaziabad on a BJP ticket in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term, he served as the Minister of State for External Affairs, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), and Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation. In PM Modi’s second term, he held the portfolios of Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation.
IANS