Mumbai: Ramesh Bais, the newly appointed Governor of Maharashtra, will take his oath of office at the Raj Bhavan on February 18, an official said on Friday.
Bais, who is 75 years old and was the Governor of Jharkhand, has been transferred to Maharashtra by President Draupadi Murmu as part of a major reshuffle of governors that happened last Sunday.
The President also accepted the resignation of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who at the age of 80 has decided to spend his days reading and writing in his home state of Uttarakhand, where he has had an illustrious career as a lecturer, journalist, author, and chief minister (2001–2002) and leader of the opposition (2002–2007).
On Friday morning, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of Maharashtra and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paid a farewell visit to Koshyari at Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the state's governor. Koshyari was appointed to his current position in September 2019.
Koshyari was honoured by Shinde-Fadnavis with flowers, shawls, gifts of a decorative photo frame of the renowned Sri Kedarnathji Temple, and statues of Lord Krishna and Lord Hanuman.
Koshyari started the day off by visiting the Shri Babulnath and Goddess Mumbadevi temples in south Mumbai and offering prayers to the deities.
On Friday, Koshyari received a steady stream of visitors who came to bid him farewell after the employees at Raj Bhavan gave the departing Governor a warm send-off.
Later this afternoon, the Indian Navy will give Koshyari a ceremonial send-off with a guard of honour before he flies to Dehradun.—Inputs from Agencies