Satya Pal Malik sworn in as governor of Bihar

The post of governor in Bihar had fallen vacant after Ram Nath Kovind resigned following his nomination as the BJP’s candidate for presidential poll in June. West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was holding the additional charge of Bihar during the interim period.

Satya Pal Malik was on Wednesday sworn in as governor of Bihar. He was administered the oath of office by Patna high court chief justice Rajendra Menon at Raj Bhawan in Patna.

Satya Pal Malik being sworn in as Bihar governor in Patna on Wednesday.(Santosh Kumar/HT photo)

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Bihar legislative assembly speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary and many other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The post of governor in Bihar had fallen vacant after Ram Nath Kovind resigned following his nomination as the BJP’s candidate for presidential poll in June. West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was holding the additional charge of Bihar during the interim period.

Earlier, Malik, 71, arrived in Patna on Tuesday . He was received at the Patna airport by the chief minister, his cabinet colleagues, assembly speaker and senior government officers. After the chief minister presented a bouquet to Malik at the airport, he broke protocol and hugged Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi.

Malik, who was BJP’s national vice-president before his appointment to the gubernatorial post, has also served as Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs and tourism.

Born on July 24, 1946 in a farmers family at Hisawada in Baghpat district of Urttra Pradesh, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha twice in 1980 and 1986 and to the Lok Sabha from Aligarh in 1989. He was also a member of Uttar Pradesh assembly from 1974 to 1977.

He holds B.Sc and LLB degrees from Meerut University and a diploma in parliamentary affairs from Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies run by Parliament of India.