Gulab Chand Kataria sworn in as Punjab governor

Chandigarh: BJP veteran Gulab Chand Kataria was on Wednesday sworn in as the Governor of Punjab and Administrator Chandigarh.

Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu administered the oath of office to Kataria at a ceremony in Raj Bhavan.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, former Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore and several Punjab ministers, including Harpal Singh Cheema and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, were also present.

The 79-year-old Kataria took the oath in Hindi.

Kataria replaces Banwarilal Purohit, who tendered his resignation in February.

Before being appointed as the Punjab governor, Kataria was the governor of Assam.

Hailing from Udaipur, Kataria had served as Rajasthan home minister twice -- from 2004 to 2008 and 2015 to 2018--and had also served as Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly.

The BJP veteran had also served as education, public works panchayati raj, rural development and disaster management minister.

Kataria, an eight-time former MLA, became the Assam governor in February 2023.