RN Ravi assumes office as Tamil Nadu Governor

Chennai, Sep 18: Ravindra Narayan Ravi has been sworn in as 26th Governor of Tamil Nadu on Saturday. The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Justice Sanjib Banerjee administered the oath of office to Ravi on the lawns of Raj Bhavan at 10.30 am.

The event had the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin, his cabinet colleagues, Leader of Opposition K Palaniswami and others. After the swearing-in, Stalin introduced state Assembly Speaker M Appavu and his cabinet colleagues to Ravi.

"Let your arrival encourage Tamil Nadu's growth and prosperity," MK Stalin had greeted RN Ravi in a tweet after President Ram Nath Kovind had last week appointed Ravi, a former IPS officer, as the governor of the state, shifting him from Nagaland. "Tamil Nadu welcomes you," he added.

RN Ravi succeeded Banwarilal Purohit who has since been shifted to Punjab.

Ravi, who was born in Bihar, holds a master's degree in physics. Before becoming an IPS officer of Kerala cadre in 1976, he had a brief stint in journalism. He held positions in the Central Bureau of Investigations and in the intelligence agency.

Ravi was earlier appointed as the Centre's Interlocutor for the Naga peace talks.

"On behalf of the AIADMK, I welcome the appointment of Thiru R.N.Ravi a retired IPS Officer who played a crucial Naga peace talks, as the Governer of TamilNadu. His appointment will certainly boost the development and fortune of TamilNadu to a great extent. I wish him all success. [sic]" the AIADMK coordinator had tweeted earlier.

However, Congress had raised questions over RN Ravi's appointment and suspected that he was appointed to create problems for Chief Minister MK Stalin.