Om Prakash Mathur was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Kerala at the Lok Bhavan auditorium in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, with Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen administering the oath of office to him. PTI reported that the Chief Justice administered the oath at the ceremony, which was scheduled for 12.15 p.m.
Source: ANI via Devdiscourse
Mathur succeeds Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who has been transferred to Tamil Nadu as Governor. President Droupadi Murmu appointed Mathur in a reshuffle covering six states, under which Sudha Yadav was named Governor of Karnataka, Dhal Singh Bisen of Uttarakhand, Braj Mohan Ram of Odisha and Dushyant Gautam of Sikkim, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique reported by ANI.
29th Governor of Kerala • Oath administered by Chief Justice Soumen Sen • Previously Governor of Sikkim (2024–2026) • Succeeds Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, transferred to Tamil Nadu
Mathur, 74, previously served as the 18th Governor of Sikkim from July 2024 until October 2026. He hails from Bedal village in Bali, in Rajasthan's Pali district, graduated from Rajasthan University and began public life as an RSS pracharak. He has been a BJP general secretary in charge of Gujarat, president of the Rajasthan BJP from 2008 to 2009, and a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan for two terms, from 2008 to 2014 and from 2016 to 2022.
Mathur arrived in the state capital on Thursday night and was received at the airport by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and BJP legislator and former Union Minister V. Muraleedharan, IANS reported. The state government also hosted a farewell dinner for outgoing Governor Arlekar on Thursday, at which Satheesan said the government had enjoyed a warm relationship with him.
Source: IANS via NewKerala
One early file awaiting the new Governor is a request for permission to register a case against former minister V. Abdurahiman over alleged irregularities linked to a proposed visit by the Argentina football team to Kerala — a decision Arlekar left undecided, Gold 101.3 FM reported. The allegation has not been adjudicated, and the incoming Governor will now take a decision on the file.
Source: Gold 101.3 FM