Satya Pal Malik was on Thursday sworn in as the new Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Gita Mittal administered the oath of office to him at a function in Srinagar’s Raj Bhawan.
However, outgoing Governor NN Vohra was conspicuous by his absence.
Former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh were among those who attended the swearing in ceremony. Among other judges of the high court, legislators, senior officers of the Army, BSF, CRPF, police and civil administration were present.
Malik, a former socialist leader of Uttar Pradesh, was with the Congress before he joined BJP in 2014.
He is the first career politician to become Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Dr.Karan Singh, son of the last ruler of the state Maharaja Hari Singh, occupied the Raj Bhawan between 1965 and 1967 but at that time he had not joined politics.
Thereafter only retired Army, police and administrative servces were appointed Governors of the state.