Vinai Kumar Saxena appointed new Delhi LG days after Anil Baijal resigned

Vinai Kumar Saxena, the chairperson of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), was appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi on Monday, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.

Saxena, 64, will succeed Anil Baijal who resigned from the post last week citing "personal reasons".

"The President of India has been pleased to appoint Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena to be the Lt. Governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office," according to the Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal welcomed Saxena's appointment and assured him of his cabinet's full cooperation.

"On behalf of the people of Delhi, I extend a warm welcome to the newly appointed Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena. For the betterment of Delhi, he will get full cooperation from the Delhi cabinet," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Kejriwal also said he, in coordination with outgoing Lieutenant Governor Baijal, had done many things for Delhi and tried to solve its various problems. "He (Baijal) is a very nice person. I wish him all the best for the future and wish him good health and long life," he added.

Baijal, a 1969-batch IAS officer, was appointed as the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in December 2016 after the sudden resignation of Najeeb Jung.

Saxena, who started his career as an assistant officer in Rajasthan with JK Group, was elevated in 1995 as general manager to look after a proposed port project in Gujarat.

He then rose to become the CEO and was later elevated as Director of the Dholer Port Project.

Born on March 23, 1958 and an alumnus of Kanpur University with a pilot licence, Saxena is a philanthropist in vision and corporate scientist in action, according to his profile available in the KVIC.

He had formed an NGO, National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) in 1991, which opposed Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) for their attempts to stop construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project and other upcoming hydro projects in Narmada Valley since 1991.

The role of his voluntary organisation NCCL was acknowledged by the people of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh for exposing the activities of anti-dam activists, according to his profile.

He was appointed as KVIC chairperson in 2015.

Saxena is one of the members of the national committee to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence. This committee is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In November 2020, Saxena was nominated as a member of the high-powered Padma Awards Selection Committee for the year 2021 by the Government of India.