Bengaluru: Sudha Yadav was sworn in as the Governor of Karnataka on Friday.
She replaced Thaawar Chand Gehlot, who had been holding the office since July 11, 2021.
Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Vibhu Bakhru administered the oath of office to her at an event held at Lok Bhavan, the Governor’s House.
On Monday, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Kargil war widow and BJP leader Sudha Yadav, 61, as the new Governor of Karnataka.
Who’s Sudha Yadav?
Dr Sudha Yadav, a former Lok Sabha MP from Mahendragarh and a resident of Gurugram, has been appointed Governor of Karnataka. The appointment makes the Rewari-born BJP leader one of the most prominent political figures from south Haryana to occupy a Raj Bhavan.
Born in Motla Kalan village in Rewari district, Sudha Yadav has deep roots in the Ahirwal belt. She completed her MSc in Chemistry from IIT-Roorkee in 1987 and earned a PhD in the subject from the same institute in 1992. She has also received the President’s Guide Award.
Her entry into politics followed a personal tragedy. Her husband, Sukhbir Singh Yadav, a BSF Deputy Commandant, was killed in the 1999 Kargil war. She subsequently entered politics at the urging of Narendra Modi, who was the BJP’s Haryana in-charge at the time.
She contested her first Lok Sabha election from Mahendragarh in 1999 and won, defeating Ahirwal heavyweight Rao Inderjit Singh by a margin of around 1.39 lakh votes. She remained an MP until 2004 and later served as a member of the National Commission for Backward Classes.
In August 2022, the BJP inducted her into its Central Parliamentary Board and Central Election Committee, two of the party’s key decision-making bodies. She became only the second woman to be inducted into the Parliamentary Board after Sushma Swaraj.
The reshuffle drew attention as several prominent leaders, including Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, were dropped, while Sudha Yadav, BS Yediyurappa, Sarbananda Sonowal, K Laxman, Iqbal Singh Lalpura and Satyanarayan Jatiya were inducted.
Her appointment is being seen in political circles as recognition of her long organisational career. It also comes at a time when the BJP’s leadership dynamics in the Ahirwal belt of south Haryana remain under close scrutiny.
