PB Acharya sworn in as Nagaland Governor

Kohima: Octogenarian Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya was on Saturday sworn in as the 19th Governor of Nagaland.

Mr Acharya has been given the additional charge of Tripura also.

Mr Acharya served as the BJP national secretary during 1995-2000 when Narendra Modi was the BJP national general secretary. Mr Acharya was then the in-charge of party affairs in northeast states.

He was the first batch student (1948-50) of Udupi MGM College and later served as a teacher at Vidyarayna School at Kadabettu.

He joined the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) at an early age and was imprisoned for six months in 1948 when the then government had banned RSS.

After his graduation, Mr Acharya moved to Mumbai where he was engaged in business and was also the senate member of Mumbai University for 30 years.

He has also served as national president of ABVP.

President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Acharya as Nagaland governor with the additional charge of Tripura on July 14.

Meghalaya Governor KK Paul had assumed the additional charge of Nagaland on July 2 while Mizoram Governor Vakkom Purushothaman was transferred to Nagaland. But, Mr Purushothaman resigned on July 11.

The gubernatorial post fell vacant following the resignation of Governor Ashwani Kumar on June 26.

Mr Acharya was sworn in by Justice P K Saikia of Guwahati High Court at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister TR Zeliang, MP and former chief minister Neiphiu Rio, Cabinet ministers, the BJP Nagaland unit president M Chuba Ao, NPF president Shurhozelie, senior bureaucrats, police and Army officers.