Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar was sworn in as the new Governor of Kerala in a ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan here on Thursday.

Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, Justice Nitin Jamdar, administered the oath  office to the new Governor. The event was attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,  his cabinet colleagues,leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan, Speaker AN Shamseer, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, West Bengal Governor C V Anand Bose, Chief Secretary, and the  Director General of Police(DGP).

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Arlekar  succeeded  Arif Mohammed Khan who was transferred to serve as the Governor of Bihar.

Before the swearing-in, a Guard of Honour and other ceremonial events were held at the Raj Bhavan. Arlekar arrived in the state’s capital on Wednesday .He was received by CM,  Speaker and and ministers on his arrival at Thiruvananthapuram Airport.

Arlekar joined the BJP in 1989 after serving in the RSS for a long time. He has served as Speaker  of the Goa Assembly and Forest  Minister in Goa cabinet.  Goa  became the country’s first paperless legislature during Rajendra Arlekar’s tenure as Speaker.