Om Prakash Mathur sworn in as 29th Governor of Keralam

Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen administers oath of office to Mathur, who succeeds Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar

Om Prakash Mathur was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Keralam at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday (October 23, 2026).

Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen administered the oath of office to Mr. Mathur. Prior to the swearing-in, the appointment order issued by President Droupadi Murmu was read out, following which Mr. Mathur took the oath and assumed office.

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Ministers and other elected representatives attended the ceremony. Leaders from various political parties were also present. Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan was absent from the event.

Mr. Mathur has succeeded Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who has been appointed Governor of Tamil Nadu. Prior to his present appointment, Mr. Mathur was serving as the Governor of Sikkim.

Notably, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) was present at the swearing-in ceremony. Sikkim Speaker Mingma Norbu Sherpa, MLAs and senior officials from the state were also part of the delegation that greeted him at the event.

Mr. Mathur offered prayers at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram earlier in the day. He arrived in the State capital on Thursday evening.

Hailing from Bedal village in Bali tehsil of Rajasthan's Pali district, Mr. Mathur graduated from Rajasthan University before entering public life as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak.

He subsequently served as the Bharatiya Janata Party's national general secretary in charge of Gujarat and as a Rajya Sabha member representing Rajasthan before taking up gubernatorial responsibilities.