Tathagata Roy sworn in as Meghalaya governor

Former Tripura governor Tathagata Roy was sworn in Saturday evening by the Chief Justice of Meghalaya Mohammad Yaqoob Mir at a brief but sombre function at 6pm.

In attendance to witness the proceedings were chief minister Conrad K Sangma and his ministerial colleagues, Shillong MP Vincent H Pala and senior central and state government officials as well as officers of the Indian armed forces based here.

Roy replaced Ganga Prasad who has been transferred and appointed as the new governor of Sikkim.

Roy was appointed as the governor of Tripura in May 2015 and for some time in 2016 also held the additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh. During his stint as governor of Arunachal Pradesh, he handled the ouster of chief minister Kalikho Pul following a Supreme Court judgement and swore in Pema Khandu as the new chief minister.

Speaking to reporters after swearing-in ceremony, Roy said that coming to Meghalaya was like a homecoming for him.

“When I received this order to move from Tripura to Meghalaya I was a little sad because I had set my mind on staying in Tripura for three years but then I was also very happy because coming to Meghalaya coming to Shillong is like homecoming,” he said.

Roy said he had spent his early childhood in Shillong and that his younger brother who is an MP now had also been born in the Ganesh Das Hospital as he added, “This city I know it like the back of my hand all the way from Garikhana to Happy Valley.”

Stating that looks of the city has changed a lot, Roy lamented when he said, “When we were children there were no traffic jams and the buildings were all Assam-type buildings and none of these monstrosities that have grown up now.”

The new governor said that he would like to address problem. “What can be done under the circumstances is as far as I can see emphasis on public transport rather than private transport,” he asserted.

Roy has often stirred controversies with his comments on social media some of which had strong communal connotations.

Born on September 14, 1945 in Kolkata to Debesh Chandra Roy and Anila Roy, Roy has his ancestral roots in Satgaon village, Brahmanbaria district, under Chittagong division of Bangladesh.

Attracted to Hindutva, Roy became a Swayamsevak 1986 and after quitting government service he joined the BJP in 1990. He replaced Ashim Ghosh as president of the West Bengal state unit of the BJP in 2002 and was succeeded by Sukumar Banerjee in 2006.

Armed with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Engineering), Calcutta University, 1966 and Bachelor of Law, Calcutta University, 1985, he was an officer of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (1967-1990), then served as general manager, RITES Ltd., 1989-90 Kolkata (a public sector consulting engineering company specializing in railway and related projects) and chief engineer, Metro Railway, Kolkata, 1988-89.

He was also a professor and founder-head, Department of Construction Engineering, (1990-2010) at Jadavpur University, Salt Lake Campus, Kolkata.

He is married to Anuradha Roy (nee Guha) and has two daughters - Malini (Rao) and Madhura (Khedekar), both of whom live in the United States. His wife Anuradha taught English at B.K.C. College, Kolkata.

Roy writes extensively, mostly socio-political articles, both in English and in his native Bengali and has authored five books.

Roy’s successor in Tripura, Kaptan Singh Solanki also took the oath of office and secrecy in Agartala on Saturday in a simple ceremony at the Darbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan.

Solanki, who had served as Haryana governor for a little over four years, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Tripura High Court Chief Justice Ajay Rastogi.

Chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, his cabinet colleagues, chief whip Kalyani Roy and chief secretary Sanjeev Ranjan were present at the function.

(With PTI input)

First Published: Aug 25, 2018 23:24 IST