Bhubaneswar: Raghubar Das was sworn in as the 26th Governor of Odisha at Raj Bhawan here on Tuesday morning.
Orissa High Court Acting Chief Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi administered the oath of allegiance and office to him at 11.45 am. Chief Secretary P K Jena moderated the swearing-in ceremony with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in attendance. Das’ family, relatives and supporters from Jharkhand were also present.
Prior to the swearing-in ceremony, Das offered prayers at Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar this morning. He had visited Jagannath Temple the previous day after arriving at the Puri railway station, accompanied by his family and a group of 80 close relatives, on board the Purushottam Express. Later in the evening, he was welcomed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on his arrival at Raj Bhawan.
Das was appointed as the new Governor of Odisha by President Dropadi Murmu on October 18. Prior to this appointment, he was a national vice president of the BJP. He was also first non-tribal CM of Jharkhand from 2014 to 2019.
Das, who completed a degree in law after passing out from Jamshedpur Cooperative College, started his political career as an activist of the student movement launched by Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan in 1976-77. He was also jailed during emergency. He enrolled himself with the Janata Party in 1977 and joined the BJP after its launch three years later. In 2004, Das was appointed as Jharkhand state president of the BJP.