Former three-term Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit was given a warm welcome on her arrival from New Delhi on Monday evening to assume charge as 22 Governor of the State.
The Governor-designate, who arrived by a scheduled flight of a private airline by 4.45 p.m. at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport, was escorted from the tarmac to the Air Force technical area. She took salute and inspected the guard of honour presented by a contingent of the Kerala Police.
Later, Mrs. Dikshit, who reached the specially erected pandal on the Shanghumughom side of the technical area, was received by State Chief Secretary E.K. Bharat Bhushan and State Police Chief K. S. Balasubramonian. The Governor-designate was accompanied by her sister, Prameela Malhotra.
Chief Minister Oommmen Chandy, accompanied by his wife, Mariamma Oommen, formally welcomed the Governor-designate. Speaker G. Karthikeyan, Deputy Speaker N. Shaktan, Minister for Home Ramesh Chennithala, Minister for Ports and Excise K. Babu, and Minister for Health V. S. Sivakumar were present.
Former Cabinet Secretary and Vice-Chairman of the State Planning Board K. M. Chandrasekhar, chairman of the Kerala Public Service Commission K. Radhakrishnan, chairperson of the Kerala State Women’s Commission K. C. Rosakutty were present.
Senior government and officials of the Southern Air Command and the Kerala Police, District Collector Biju Prabhakar, and Congress leader Thelakunil Basheeer were present to receive Mrs. Dikshit.
Interacting with mediapersons, Mrs. Dikshit said she was excited to come down to God’s Own Country and was looking forward to working for the State.
She declined to comment on the queries over the protest by the Aam Aadmi Party over her appointment as Governor when FIRs were filed against her in Delhi.
Later, she left for Raj Bhavan. Mrs. Dikshit will be sworn in at a function to be held at Raj Bhavan at 12 noon on Tuesday. She replaces Nikhil Kumar, who resigned to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bihar.
