Tathagata Roy sworn in Meghalaya Governor

Former Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy, known for his pro-Hindutva view, on Saturday took charge as the governor of this Christian-dominated state of Meghalaya.

Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court Mohammed Yaqoob Mir administered the oath of office to Roy at a brief ceremony attended by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his cabinet ministers besides Congress Lok Sabha member Vincent Pala at the Raj Bhavan.

Senior State BJP and RSS leaders also witnessed the simple oath taking ceremony.

Members of the opposition Congress were absent. "Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma conveyed his regret to attend swearing-in since he has prior engagement," said a Raj Bhavan official.

Senior government officials including senior Army, Indian Air Force and Central Armed Police Force officers also attended the function.

The swearing-in ceremony was followed by a State Guard of Honour presented by Meghalaya Police at Raj Bhavan.

Roy was appointed as Meghalaya Governor on August 21 replacing Ganga Prasad who has been transferred and appointed as Sikkim Governor. Prasad took oath as the governor of Meghalaya on October 5, last year.

Haryana Governor, Kaptan Singh Solanki was transferred and appointed as the new governor of Tripura in place of Roy.

It is a home-coming for the 73-year-old Roy for his new posting in Shillong as he have spent part of his childhood in Shillong.

His brother, Prof. Saugata Roy, is the Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member. He was born in Shillong, which was once the capital of undivided Assam.

"When I received this order to move from Tripura to Meghalaya, I was a little sad because I had set my mind on staying in Tripura for three years but then I was also very happy because coming to Meghalaya coming to Shillong is like homecoming," Roy told journalists.

Roy was a member of the ruling Bharatiya Jatana Party (BJP) national executive and president of party's West Bengal unit from 2002 to 2006 and contested the Lok Sabha elections in the last year's parliamentary polls in Bengal.

He was in Jadavpur University in Kolkata as professor and founder head of the department of construction engineering after he played a key role in construction of Metro rail in Kolkata as its chief engineer.

Roy is also an author of many books.

--IANS

rrk/prs