Kohima, March 13 (IANS) Veteran politician and former Bihar Minister Nand Kishore Yadav on Friday took oath as the 23rd Governor of Nagaland. Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Yadav at a simple ceremony held at Lok Bhavan in Kohima.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Deputy Chief Ministers Yanthungo Patton and T.R. Zeliang, members of the state Cabinet, and top civil, security and military officials were present at the ceremony, which was conducted by Chief Secretary Sentiyanger Imchen.

The Chief Minister congratulated Yadav on assuming charge as the Governor of Nagaland.

President Droupadi Murmu on March 5 announced the appointment and transfer of Governors and Lieutenant Governors across six states and two union territories.

As part of the reshuffle, former Bihar Minister and Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav was appointed as the Governor of Nagaland. Yadav succeeds Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who had been holding the additional charge of Nagaland since August 25 last year while serving as the Governor of Manipur.

Bhalla, a former Union Home Secretary, was given the additional responsibility by President Murmu on August 16 last year, a day after the death of Nagaland Governor La. Ganesan on August 15 at a hospital in Chennai at the age of 80.

Seventy-three-year-old Yadav joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1969 and later became active in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1971. He served as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bihar unit from 1998 to 2003 and held several important portfolios in the Bihar government.

In February 2024, Yadav was elected as the 17th Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. He is regarded as one of the senior BJP leaders in Bihar, and his appointment as the Governor of Nagaland is seen as recognition of his long political career and contributions to public life.

Yadav has been elected seven times as an MLA from the Patna Sahib constituency, earlier known as the Patna Paschim Assembly seat, representing the BJP.

--IANS