Presence of a strong ministerial contingent from the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu was a significant highlight as the former BJP president of the State, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, was on Sunday sworn in as the new Telangana Governor at a function at the Raj Bhawan in Hyderabad.

Presence of a strong ministerial contingent from the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu was a significant highlight as the former BJP president of the State, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, was on Sunday sworn in as the new Telangana Governor at a function at the Raj Bhawan in Hyderabad.




Mr. Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, Chief Justice of the Telangana High court administered the oath of office to Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, who took the oath in the name of God in English.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who was among the dignitaries on the podium, then welcomed the new Governor with a bouquet of flowers. Soon after assuming charge, Dr Tamilisai walked straight to her father, former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Kumari Ananthan and her mother, fell at their feet and took their blessings.

Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan is only the second women from Tamil Nadu to be appointed to the post of Governor, the earlier one being Mrs Jothi Venkatachalam who went as Governor of Kerala long years back.

Significantly, the presence of several senior Tamil Nadu ministers at the swearing-in function was seen as politically significant. They included the Deputy Chief Minister, O. Pannerselvam, Local Administration minister, S.P. Velumani, Electricity minister, P. Thangamani, and Fisheries minister, D Jayakumar.

There was an ample sprinkling from the Tamil Nadu NDA allies too, including Ms Premalatha Vijayakanth, treasurer of DMDK, her brother Sudeesh, All India Samuthava Katchi leader Sarathkumar, his wife Radhika Sarathkumar and New Justice Party leader A C Shanmugham.

Expressing happiness that a woman leader from Tamil Nadu had taken charge as Governor of Telangana, Mr. Jayakumar said it was a “reward” for her hard and dedicated political work in Tamil Nadu for the BJP in the last four years. “It shows there is no substitute for hard work,” Jayakumar quipped to reporters while leaving the Raj Bhawan in Hyderabad.

Later, in the day, Dr Tamilisai administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Telangana ministers sworn-in today as part of the expansion of the KCR Cabinet.