Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Oct 16: Sudha Yadav took oath as the new governor of Karnataka at a ceremony held at the Lok Bhavan here on Friday, October 16. Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new governor.

President Droupadi Murmu appointed Yadav following the completion of outgoing governor Thawar Chand Gehlot's tenure. Yadav is the second woman to serve as the governor of Karnataka, following V S Ramadevi, who held the post from 1999 to 2002.

Yadav entered public life following the demise of her husband, Sukhbir Singh Yadav, a Border Security Force (BSF) deputy commandant. He was martyred in an artillery attack by Pakistani forces during the 1999 Kargil War and was posthumously awarded the Sena Medal.

Elected from the Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana in 1999, she served as a member of Parliament until 2004. Holding a doctorate in Chemistry, she also earned her MSc with a gold medal from the then University of Roorkee, now known as IIT Roorkee.

Yadav has held several organisational positions within the BJP. She served as the national in-charge of the party's OBC Morcha and as a member of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). In 2022, she was inducted into the BJP parliamentary board, becoming the second woman to hold the position after Sushma Swaraj.

The swearing-in ceremony at the glass house of the Lok Bhavan was attended by outgoing governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, chief minister D K Shivakumar, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, ministers Sharan Prakash Patil, K J George, and Priyank Kharge. Leader of the opposition in the assembly R Ashoka, leader of the opposition in the legislative council Chalavadi T Narayanaswamy, chief secretary Shalini Rajneesh, DG & IGP M A Saleem, Bengaluru city police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh, MLAs, MPs, high court judges, and senior officials were also present.