Dattatreya reaches Shimla, to take oath as HP Guv on Wednesday

Former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya arrived in Shimla on Tuesday and he will take oath as Himachal Pradesh governor at Raj Bhawan on Wednesday, an official said.

He will take oath as the 27th governor of Himachal Pradesh at 11 am, the official added.

Dattatreya, 72, will succeed Kalraj Mishra, who has been made the Rajasthan governor.

Accompanied by his wife Vasantha, Dattatreya was given a reception on his arrival here.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Mayor Kusum Sadret, Chief Secretary Shrikant Baldi, Director General of Police SR Mardi, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sanjay Kundu and other dignitaries welcomed him at Raj Bhawan.

The CM honoured the governor designate with Himachali cap and shawl.

Earlier Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj, Shimla Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap, Superintendent of Police Omapati Jamwal welcomed him at Annandale helipad.

Dattatreya was a Union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government in 1998 and 1999.

Born on February 26, 1947, in Hyderabad, Dattatreya was elected to Lok Sabha in 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2014, but lost in 2004 and 2009.

After his re-election to Lok Sabha in 2014 from Telangana, he was inducted as minister of state for labour and employment in the BJP government headed by Narendra Modi, but was later dropped from the Union cabinet.

He was denied a Lok Sabha ticket in this general election from Secunderabad, a seat he won many times.