Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s outgoing governor Ganeshi Lal Friday bid adieu to the state and left for his native state Haryana.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi and other dignitaries were present at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here when Lal left the state after serving the highest constitutional post for five years and five months.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik accompanied by new chairman of 5T and Nabin Odisha VK Pandian had met him at the Raj Bhavan Thursday night.
“Glad to meet the Governor of #Odisha Prof. Ganeshi Lal Ji who is leaving Odisha after serving the state for more than five years. Thank him for his service to the state and convey my good wishes,” Patnaik wrote on X.
On the eve of Prof Lal’s departure from the state, a farewell ceremony was organised in his honour at the Raj Bhavan here. He was also accorded guard of honour.
“Odia people are fortunate to stay near Lord Jagannath all the time and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to serve Odisha. The state has enriched my knowledge. And I can say this with conviction that in the times to come, this conflicting world will vanish and there will be an erection of elegant edifice, a city of mankind (Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam). If there is any place which can act as the foundation of this ‘city’, then it will be Odisha state,” he told reporters.
A unique elevation of my consciousness has taken place on this land. I pay my obeisance to the holy soil and its virtuous people, he said.
Lal was appointed as the 25th Governor of Odisha May 25, 2018. His wife Sushila Devi passed away during the Covid pandemic.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das, who was appointed as the new governor of Odisha October 19, is likely to arrive here October 29 and take oath October 31, sources said.
PTI