Chennai: Surjit Singh Barnala was today (Nov 3, 2004) sworn in as the new Governor of Tamil Nadu.

Madras High Court Chief Justice B Subashan Reddy administered the oath of office to Barnala at a simple and brief ceremony in the Raj Bhavan in Chennai.

State Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, her cabinet colleagues, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly K Anbazhagan, Assembly Speaker K Kalimuthu, TNCC (Tamil Nadu Congress Committee) president G K Vasan, Union Minister T R Baalu, DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) deputy general secretary M K Stalin, judges of the high court and heads of diplomatic missions were among those who attended the function.

Barnala, transferred from Andhra Pradesh, succeeds P S Ramamohan Rao, who resigned from the post on Oct 29.

This is Barnala's second stint as the Governor of the State. He was the Governor during 1990-91 and resigned after the then Chandrashekar Government at the Centre dismissed the DMK Government on January 30, 1991, without his recommendation.

Earlier, Barnala, who arrived in Chennai by a State-owned aircraft along with his family members, was given a ceremonial welcome at the Meenambakkam Airport.

He was met at the airport by Jayalalithaa, her cabinet colleagues and top police and civil officials.