Gangtok: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam was sworn in as the 19th Governor of Sikkim at Lok Bhavan on Monday, even as protests continued over his appointment in connection with the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case.
The oath of office and secrecy was administered by Sikkim High Court Chief Justice A Muhamed Mustaque in the presence of Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, members of the council of ministers, the Speaker of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, High Court judges, the Lok Sabha MP and MLAs.
After the ceremony, the Chief Minister introduced the new Governor to the Speaker, ministers and legislators. Gautam was then accorded a ceremonial guard of honour by the Sikkim Armed Police.
President Droupadi Murmu appointed Gautam as Governor of Sikkim on October 12, as part of a reshuffle covering six states. He succeeds Om Prakash Mathur.
The ceremony came against the backdrop of public opposition. Last week, youths and citizens with no political affiliation held a peaceful sit-in at the District Administrative Centre in Gangtok, urging the Centre to defer the appointment until the CBI completes its investigation into the alleged VIP angle in the Bhandari case.
Gautam is a former BJP national general secretary and a former president of the party's Scheduled Caste Morcha. He has been a councillor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and a Rajya Sabha member.
His appointment is part of a wider exercise in which Sudha Yadav was named Karnataka Governor, Dhal Singh Bisen Uttarakhand Governor and Braj Mohan Ram Odisha Governor, with Om Prakash Mathur moved to Kerala.