Arif Mohammad Khan sworn in as Governor of poll-bound Bihar
Arif Mohammad Khan, a former union minister who has held several portfolios ranging from energy to civil aviation, arrived in Patna on December 30
PATNA: Arif Mohammad Khan on Thursday took oath as the 42nd governor of Bihar, succeeding Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar who has gone to Kerala in the same capacity.

Patna high court chief justice K Vinod Chandran administered Khan the oath of office at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of chief minister Nitish Kumar, deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, speaker of the assembly Anand Kishor Yadav, legislative council chairman Avadhesh Kumar Singh, leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav and several other dignitaries.
Khan, a former union minister who has held several portfolios ranging from energy to civil aviation, arrived in Patna on December 30 and actively engaged with state activities even before the swearing-in.
Soon after his arrival from Delhi, Nitish Kumar called on Khan at the Raj Bhavan on December 31. Khan also visited Kalyan Bigha to pay tributes to Kumar’s mother on her death anniversary.
Khan also went to meet RJD chief Lalu Prasad and former CM Rabri Devi at the latter’s residence. Prior to that, Tejashwi Yadav also called on Arif Mohammad Khan at the Raj Bhavan.
Earlier in the Congress, Khan was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 from Kanpur, but he quit the party in 1986 due to differences over the passage of Muslim Personal Law Bill. He later joined the Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party and finally the BJP in 2004.
He has been appointed as Bihar governor at a time when the state is heading for assembly elections later this year and Muslims play a key role in one third of the seats.
His major responsibility will be as the chancellor of state universities, which are grappling with delayed academic sessions and controversies, and many of them are awaiting appointments of new VCs.
Khan also had to face serious differences with the Kerala government over the appointment of VCs. He had sought resignation of all the nine VCs after the appointment of VC at the APJ Abdul Kalam University was termed illegal by the Supreme Court.
He also had to face protests over his support for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Later, the Kerala government passed three bills to curtail the powers of the Governor as Chancellor, but Khan did not give them assent.
The Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala even moved the Supreme Court against the Governor, highlighting the Raj Bhavan’s delay in clearing the Bills passed by the Assembly. Khan, however, gave his consent to only one Bill and sent two others to the President.

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