Thiruvananthapuram: Om Prakash Mathur was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Kerala at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan on Friday.

Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen administered the oath of office to Mathur in Hindi. Chief Minister V D Satheesan and other Cabinet ministers attended the ceremony, along with leaders from various political parties. However, leaders of the main Opposition front, the LDF, stayed away.

The ceremony began with the band playing the full version of the national song Vande Mataram, followed by the national anthem. The appointment order issued by President Droupadi Murmu was read out before Mathur took the oath and assumed office.

The ceremony lasted a little over 10 minutes and concluded with the band playing Vande Mataram and the national anthem. Mathur later interacted with some of the dignitaries present.

Mathur hails from Bedal village in Bali tehsil of Rajasthan’s Pali district. A graduate of Rajasthan University, he entered public life as an RSS pracharak. He later served as the BJP general secretary in charge of Gujarat and as a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan.

He succeeds Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who has been appointed Governor of Tamil Nadu.

Mathur’s appointment is being closely watched against the backdrop of tensions between the previous LDF government and the state’s former Governors, particularly over the administration of universities. The current UDF government has also had differences with previous Governors over similar issues.

The Governor serves as the Chancellor of state universities and has powers relating to their administration. Appointments of vice-chancellors and senior university officials by previous Governors had triggered political disputes and legal battles.