Aizawl, Jan 8 (IANS): The swearing-in-ceremony of former Union Minister and Army chief, Gen Vijay Kumar Singh (retd), as Mizoram’s new Governor, scheduled earlier for January 9, has been postponed to January 16, officials said here on Tuesday.

Raj Bhavan and Mizoram government officials officially did not disclose the reasons for the postponement of the swearing-in ceremony of the new Governor.

An official said that the Governor-designate has deferred his arrival in Mizoram and the oath-taking ceremony. Another official, quoting a source of the new Governor, said the deferred arrival might be due to a family member’s medical treatment.

Earlier, Mizoram government officials said that Gen Singh (retd) would arrive in Aizawl on January 8 and the swearing-in ceremony was scheduled to be held on the next day.

The Governor-designate would now arrive in Aizawl on January 15 and the swearing-in-ceremony would be held on the next day.

Mizoram currently has no Governor after incumbent Hari Babu Kambhampati, who held the post for more than three years and five months, left the state on January 2 and took up the gubernatorial charge in Odisha the next day.

Officials said that the new Governor, upon assuming the charge, is likely to convene the Budget session after his swearing-in-ceremony.

Gen Singh (retd) served as the 24th Chief of Army Staff and after retiring from the army, entered politics and was elected as a Member of Parliament from Ghaziabad on a BJP ticket in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term, he served as the Minister of State for External Affairs, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), and Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation. In PM Modi’s second term, he held the portfolios of Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation.