Will try to bridge North-South divide, says Himachal gov
Shimla, Sept. 11: Former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya took oath as Himachal Pradesh governor on Wednesday, succeeding Kalraj Mishra.
Mr Dattatreya, 72, was the minister of state for labour and employment in the BJP government headed by Narendra Modi in 2014, and was part of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet earlier.
Interacting with the media, the new governor said he will work to improve connectivity with South India so that more people from there visit the state.
“I will try to connect more the people of South with North India especially Himachal Pradesh as I hail from the South.
“Himachal is known as ‘Dev Bhoomi’ (Land of gods). I will see how the South is connected through rail or other transport for attracting more tourists here,” he said.
The new governor said there is a huge scope for religious tourism in Himachal Pradesh. He said that it would be his endeavour to accelerate the pace of development in the hill-state in coordination with both the government and the Opposition.
Mr Dattatreya was administered the oath of office and
secrecy by Himachal Pradesh high court’s justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary in a simple ceremony attended by chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy, Mr Dattatreya’s wife Vasantha among others.
Mr Reddy was elected as member of parliament in last general elections from Telangana’s Secunderabad, which used to be Mr Dattatreya’s home constituency.
Mr Dattatreya is the hill state’s 27th governor.
Kalraj Mishra, the previous Himachal Pradesh governor, is now the governor of Rajasthan.
Born on February 26, 1947 in Hyderabad, Mr Dattatreya was elected to Lok Sabha in 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2014, but lost in 2004 and 2009. He did not contest the 2019 general election.