Badnore sworn in as new Punjab Governor

Chandigarh, Aug 22 (PTI) V P Singh Badnore today tookoath as the new Punjab Governor and also as Administrator ofChandigarh Administration here. Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice S J Vazifdaradministered the oath of office and secrecy to Badnore atPunjab Raj Bhawan here. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal congratulatedBadnore for becoming Punjab Governor and Administrator of UTChandigarh. Badnore, 69, replaces Kaptan Singh Solanki, who is theGovernor of Haryana and was holding additional charge ofPunjab Governor and Administrator of ChandigarhAdministration since January 2015. Badnore, who belongs to Bhilwara, was a four-timeBJP legislator in the Rajasthan assembly. He was an MLA from1977-80, 1985-90, 1993-98 and 1998-99. During his last term asMLA, he was the state Irrigation minister. He was a member of the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha from1999-2004 and from 2004-09. In July 2010, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. A graduate in business management, he studied at MayoCollege, Ajmer, and Administrative Staff College of India(ASCI), Hyderabad. Rajya Sabha records describe Badnore as an agriculturist,environmentalist, social worker, and sportsman. He was the chairman of the special task force torehabilitate tigers in Sariska (Rajasthan) from 2005-09 and amember of the empowered committee of forests and wildlifemanagement in Rajasthan. He is a widely travelled parliamentarian. He was a partof the Indian delegations to Commonwealth ParliamentaryAssociation, Canada, in 1994 and in 2004 besides the Indiandelegation of South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) toPakistan. A keen swimmer, he participated in nationalschool-level swimming competitions. PTI VJ CHS AKARG