Shukla Takes Oath In Telugu As Governor
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and his Cabinet colleagues were among the dignitaries present
Hyderabad: Shiv Pratap Shukla was sworn in as the fifth Governor of Telangana on Wednesday. Telangana High Court Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh administered the oath of office at a brief ceremony at Lok Bhavan. Shukla took the oath in Telugu, surprising everyone present at the ceremony.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers, Legislative Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, Legislative Council Chairman Gutha Sukhender Reddy, MLAs, MPs, officials and other dignitaries attended the ceremony.
Shukla replaced Jishnu Dev Varma, who was recently transferred as the Governor of Maharashtra in a gubernatorial reshuffle carried out by the Centre. With the Legislative Assembly Budget session scheduled to begin on March 16, Shukla will address a joint sitting of both Houses on the opening day.
Shukla is the fifth Governor since Telangana was formed after craving out from Andhra Pradesh in June 2014. He earlier served as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
In his message after assuming the office, Shukla said it was a great honour for him to serve the state and pledged to discharge his responsibilities with humility, integrity and commitment to the Constitution.
He thanked the President of India and the Prime Minister for entrusting him with the responsibility and said he accepted the role with humility and respect.
Shukla said Telangana reflects a rich cultural heritage, strong traditions and notable progress, and that the experience he gained while serving as Governor of Himachal Pradesh would help him in his new responsibilities.
He also congratulated the state government led by Revanth Reddy and expressed confidence that stakeholders would work together to fulfil the aspirations of the people while upholding democratic values and constitutional objectives. “As Governor of Telangana, I remain committed to promoting harmony, unity and inclusive development,” he said.
Calling for collective efforts to build a prosperous Telangana, he concluded his message with the slogan, “Jai Telangana.”
Born on April 1, 1952, in Rudrapur village of Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh, Shukla was associated with the ABVP during his student days. He joined the BJP in 1983 and was first elected from the Gorakhpur Nagar Assembly constituency in 1989. He was re-elected in 1991 and served as a minister in the government led by Kalyan Singh, the first BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. Elected to the Assembly for the fourth time in 1996, he served as minister in the governments of Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh.
In 2016, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and in 2017 was appointed Minister of State for Finance in the Narendra Modi government. He served as a Rajya Sabha member until July 4, 2022.
