Veteran BJP leader Kalraj Mishra took oath as the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh at Raj Bhawan here on Monday.
Mishra was appointed to the current post after incumbent Acharya Devvrat was transferred and appointed as the new Governor of Gujarat last week.
Mishra, 78, who was in charge of the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the first Cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had resigned in 2017 after he crossed 75 years beyond which BJP leaders are barred from occupying official posts and cannot contest elections.
He was elected as an MP from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, in which he had defeated BSP's Niyaj Ahmad with a margin of over 2.65 lakh votes.
Earlier this year, Mishra had announced that he will not contest the 2019 general elections and will devote his time to other party responsibilities instead.