Vijayawada/ Bhubaneswar: Odisha BJP stalwart Biswa Bhusan Harichandan Wednesday took oath as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. He is the first full-time Governor of the state since its bifurcation in 2014.
Andhra Pradesh High Court’s acting Chief Justice C Praveen Kumar administered oath to the BJP veteran at a ceremony held at the temporary Raj Bhavan in Vijayawada.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, his cabinet ministers and senior officials were in attendance at the ceremony.
Harichandan is among the most well-known faces of Odisha BJP, who helped the party gain a foothold in the state. He has served as a cabinet minister and president of Odisha unit of BJP on multiple occasions.
The 84-year-old succeeds ESL Narasimhan, who had been serving as Governor of undivided Andhra Pradesh since 2009 and then as Governor of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana since bifurcation.
A government building in Vijayawada that earlier housed the Chief Minister’s camp office has been turned into a temporary Raj Bhavan to house the incoming Governor.
A number of BJP leaders in Odisha took to Twitter to wish the leader on the occasion.