Satyadev Narayan Arya takes oath as new Haryana Governor

Chandigarh, August 25 

Satyadev Narayan Arya was on Saturday sworn in as the Governor of Haryana in a simple ceremony held at Raj Bhawan here.

The Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Krishna Murari administered the oath of office to Arya, according to an official release.

Arya, a senior BJP leader and an eight-term MLA in Bihar, replaces Kaptan Singh Solanki who became the new Governor of Tripura.

He was also a minister in the 2010 BJP-JDU government in Bihar. He was born at Gandhi Tola, Rajgir in district Nalanda (Bihar) on July 1, 1939. He is M.A and law graduate from Patna University.

The newly-appointed Governor personally met the people who had come to attend the oath taking ceremony and accepted their congratulations and greetings.

Arya expressed his gratitude towards the people who had graced the occasion and had come from far-flung areas of Bihar to attend the oath taking ceremony of their beloved leader,  The function was attended by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court, senior officers of Haryana, Punjab and Union Territory of Chandigarh and prominent citizens of the city.

On reaching Chandigarh, Arya along with his wife was given a warm reception by Khattar and his cabinet colleagues, senior officers and staff of the Haryana Raj Bhawan.

The members of the Governor's family, including his sons Omprakash Ranjan and Kaushal Kishore, daughters Sunanda and Kanchan Mala and other relatives, were also present in the ceremony.

The prominent persons who joined this oath taking ceremony included the Speaker, Haryana Vidha Sabha, Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Health Minister Anil Vij, Minister of State for Mines and Geology, Nayab Singh Saini, MP, Rattan Lal Kataria, among others.

Arya held the portfolios of Minister of Rural Development from 1979-80 and Minister of Mines and Geology, Bihar, in 2010.

He has been elected Member of Bihar Vidhan Sabha eight times from Rajgir assembly constituency. He is known for his frank and straightforward approach toward political, administrative and constitutional matters, as per the release.

Arya has been President of Schedule Caste Cell of Bihar state BJP for two terms from 1988-1998. In 1962 he joined Rashtriya Swaym Sevak Sangh and became its active activist.

He had to face a number of hardships during the Emergency and during BJP's Ram Mandir movement in Ayodhya and was arrested several times, the release said. - PTI