Till recently, Vinai Kumar Saxena was the Chairman of Khadi & Village Industries Commission
Delhi got its new Lieutenant Governor in Vinai Kumar Saxena on Monday, just days after his predecessor Anil Baijal resigned citing "personal reasons".
Till recently, Mr Saxena, 64, was the Chairman of Khadi & Village Industries Commission.
"The President of India has been pleased to appoint Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena to be the Lt Governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office," read a press communique from the President's office.
Mr Saxena is one of the members of the national committee to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence. This committee is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In November 2020, Mr Saxena was nominated as a member of the high-powered Padma Awards Selection Committee for the year 2021 by the Government of India.
Mr Saxena started his career as in Rajasthan with JK Group and worked for 11 years in different positions in its White Cement plant. In 1995, he was elevated as general manager to look after the group's proposed Port project in Gujarat. He rapidly rose to become the CEO and later director of Dholera Port Project.
He also founded an NGO, National Council for Civil Liberties, which opposed the Medha Patkar-led Narmada Bachao Andolan.
He was appointed the chairman of Khadi & Village Industries Commission in 2015.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal welcomed Mr Saxena's appointment and assured him of his cabinet's full cooperation.
"On behalf of the people of Delhi, I extend a warm welcome to the newly appointed Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena. For the betterment of Delhi, he will get full cooperation from the Delhi cabinet," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
The role of Lieutenant Governor had been at the heart of an all-out power tussle between Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the BJP, which rules at the centre, for years until a landmark Supreme Court judgment in 2018 that spelled out their powers more clearly.
A retired civil servant, Mr Baijal had taken over as Lieutenant Governor in December 2016 following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor Najeeb Jung.