Chennai, Aug 31 (IANS) Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Konijeti Rosaiah was sworn in as the Tamil Nadu governor here Wednesday.


Madras High Court Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal administered the oath of office to Rosaiah, 78, at a function held at Raj Bhavan here.

Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa, ministers, leaders of various political parties, and senior officials attended the function.

Later, speaking to reporters, Rosiah said he was happy to be the governor of Tamil Nadu and wished the people on Vinayaka (Ganesh) Chaturthi.

Earlier in the day, Rosaiah, accompanied by his wife and family members, flew into the city and was received by Jayalalithaa and her cabinet colleagues at the airport.

Jayalalithaa and Rosaiah had a brief interaction at the airport lounge when she introduced her ministerial colleagues and senior officials to him.

A veteran Congress leader, Rosaiah was Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister after Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy’s death in a chopper crash 2009.

He resigned as chief minister at the wish of his party high command and was succeeded by N.Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Born into a middle class family, Rosaiah is a commerce graduate and was active in politics even during his college days.

A good orator, Rosaiah was initiated into politics by N.G.Ranga of the erstwhile Swantantra Party.

Rosaiah was first elected to the Andhra Pradesh legislative council in 1968. He became a minister in 1979 under M.Chenna Reddy.

He was also a minister under chief ministers K. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy and Rajasekhara Reddy.

Rosaiah is married to Sivalaxmi and has two sons, K.S.Subba Rao and K.S.N.Murthy, and daughter P.Rama Devi.

Nearly an hour before Rosaiah landed, a warm send off was accorded to the outgoing governor Surjit Singh Barnala at the airport by state ministers K.A.Sengottaiyan, K.P.Munusamy and Natham R.Viswanathan.