Mumbai: C P Radhakrishnan takes charge as Maharashtra Governor

C P Radhakrishnan is the 21st governor of Maharashtra since the state was formed in 1960 and succeeds Ramesh Bais. Pic/Sameer Abedi

C P Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the Governor of Maharashtra on Wednesday evening. He is the 21st governor of Maharashtra since the state was formed in 1960 and succeeds Ramesh Bais.

Radhakrishnan was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, reported the PTI.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, other ministers and senior officials were present at the function at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan.

The new governor was then accorded a ceremonial guard of honour by the Indian Navy.

Radhakrishnan served as governor of Jharkhand for nearly one and a half years prior to his new appointment.

Radhakrishnan has also held additional charge as governor of Telangana and lieutenant governor of Puducherry for brief periods.

According to the PTI, born on May 4, 1957, in Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Starting as an RSS worker, he became a state executive committee member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (predecessor of the BJP) in 1974.

In 1996, Radhakrishnan was appointed as secretary of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Coimbatore in 1998, and re-elected in 1999.

As an MP, he served as chairman of the parliamentary standing committee for textiles. He was also a member of the parliamentary committee for Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and the consultative committee for finance. He was a member of the parliamentary special committee investigating the stock exchange scam too.

In 2004, Radhakrishnan addressed the UN General Assembly as part of a parliamentary delegation. He was also a member of the first parliamentary delegation to Taiwan.

Between 2004 and 2007, Radhakrishnan served as Tamil Nadu BJP chief. In that role, he undertook a 19,000 km 'Ratha Yatra' to highlight demands such as linking all Indian rivers, eradication of terrorism, implementation of a uniform civil code, eradication of untouchability and combating the menace of narcotic drugs. He also led two 'pad-yatras' for different causes.

In 2016, Radhakrishnan was appointed the chairman of the Coir Board, Kochi, a position he held for four years. Under his leadership, coir exports from India reached an all-time high of Rs 2,532 crore. From 2020 to 2022, he was the BJP's all India in-charge for Kerala.

On February 18, 2023, Radhakrishnan was appointed as governor of Jharkhand. He also held additional charge as the governor of Telangana and lieutenant governor of Puducherry.

(with PTI inputs)