Ex-IAS officer K Kailashnathan takes oath as Lt Governor of Puducherry
XCHENNAI: Former IAS officer K Kailashnathan was sworn in as the 25th Lt Governor of Puducherry at a ceremony in Raj Nivas on Wednesday.
Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court Justice D Krishnakumar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kailashnathan while Chief Secretary to Puducherry Administration Sharat Chauhan read out the warrant of appointment issued recently by President Droupadi Murmu.
Puducherry police presented the guard of honour to the new Lt Governor outside Raj Nivas after the ceremony.
Chief Minister N Rangasamy, his cabinet colleagues, the Speaker of Puducherry Assembly R Selvam, Deputy Speaker P Rajavelu, legislators, high ranking Police officials, opposition leader in the Assembly R Siva (DMK), AIADMK Puducherry unit Secretary A Anbalagan, officials and representatives of various organisations were among those who greeted Kailashnathan after the swearing-in ceremony.
The Union Territory has had only Lt Governors under additional charge since 2021 after Kiran Bedi left Puducherry.
Governor of Jharkhand C P Radhakrishnan was holding the post of Lt Governor of Puducherry under additional charge in March this year. He was recently transferred to Maharashtra to be the Governor.
Kailashnathan, popularly known in the power circles as KK, has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close confidant since 2006, when the latter was the chief minister of Gujarat. During Modi's CM tenure, KK was considered his eyes and ears.
The IAS officer from the 1979 batch of the Gujarat cadre served in the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Office as Chief Principal Secretary for 18 years.
He held the post even after retirement in 2013, after getting multiple extensions in the last 11 years.
While Gujarat has had three chief ministers — Anandiben Patel, Vijay Rupani and incumbent Bhupendra Patel — after Modi became prime minister in 2014, Kailashnathan was the chief principal secretary in the CMO since 2013.
He finally left service in June this year.
Originally from Kerala's Vadakara, Kailashnathan grew up in Ooty where his father worked in the Postal Department. He also pursued his post-graduation in chemistry at the University of Madras before entering the Civil Service.
(With inputs from PTI)