The swearing-in ceremony of Sikkim Governor, V. Rama Rao. Picture by Karchoong Diyali

Gangtok, Oct. 25: Ventrapragada Rama Rao was today sworn in as the 12th governor of Sikkim by Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court Ripusadan Dayal.

Rao’s predecessor, Kidar Nath Sahani, left for Goa on October 23 to take over as the new Governor there.

The swearing-in ceremony at the Raj Bhavan was attended by chief minister Pawan Chamling, his Cabinet colleagues and other top officials of the state government.

Union minister of state for home affairs Vidyasagar Rao, Union minister of state for railways Dangaru Dattareya and national BJP vice-president Pyarelall Khandelwal were also present on the occasion.

Rao, a senior advocate at the Andhra Pradesh High Court, has served as the national vice-president of the BJP. Nominated to the state legislative council from Hyderabad in 1966, he represented his constituency in four consecutive terms.

A member of the Jan Sangh since 1956, Rao has also been a member of the BJP national executive for a number of years. He was later elevated to the post of the president of the BJP unit in Andhra Pradesh for two terms in 1993 and 1997.

Rao also served as the chairman of the BJP’s central disciplinary committee and the national vice-president of the party before being appointed as the Sikkim governor.

“I have met the former Governor of Sikkim Kidar Nath Sahani and was briefed about Sikkim. P. Shiv Shanker, who has earlier held the post of the Sikkim Governor and whom I have known since our Bar days at AP High Court has also told me about the state. All this has given me a fairly good impression of Sikkim,” Rao told mediapersons. “Even Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, when I last met him, assured me that I was going to a good place,” he added.

As the new Governor, Rao vowed to bring about development in the state.

The function was attended by 80 guests, including party cadre and officials from Andhra Pradesh, who had reached Gangtok to witness the swearing-in.