Punjab governor 'At Home' at Raj Bhawan

CHANDIGARH: Punjab governor and administrator, Union Territory Chandigarh, O P Verma played host to a galaxy of distinguished citizens of Punjab and Chandigarh ''At Home'' at the Punjab Raj Bhawan, on Independence Day. This was the governor''s first At Home since he took over the charge from Lt Gen J F R Jacob.
The pathway of the Raj Bhawan was specially decorated to receive the guests.Mounted police lined up the pathway holding the Chandigarh Police flags to give the occasion a royal aura.
The governor and first lady took salute as the Punjab Police band played the National Anthem. The governor then mingled with the gathering while the band well known melodies to keep the evening lively.
The prominent among the guests from Punjab were Minister of Agriculture Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Punjab Congress chief H S Hanspal, ministers Lal Singh, Santokh Singh and Jagjit Chowdhary and several senior bureaucrats and police officials.
Conspicuous by their absence was Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who could not come as he was in Kapoorthala for the state function. Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice B K Roy and Chief Secretary Punjab Jai Singh Gill also greeted the governor.
There was a noticeable presence of officers from the Western Command, Chandimandir and 3 BRD along with a large number of senior retired officers. GOC-in-C Western Command Lt Gen SS Mehta and Chief of Staff Lt Gen Grover were prominent among them.
Prominent citizens of Chandigarh, including the local Member of Parliament Pawan Kumar Bansal, former MP Satya Pal Jain, Mayor Subhash Chawla and councillors of municipal corporation, were also present to greet the governor.
Senior officials of UT administration including the adviser Virendra Singh, Finance Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, Deputy Commissioner Arun Kumar, Inspector General Rajesh Kumar, SSP Gaurav Yadav, Chairman CHB-CITCO G K Marwah were present. A large number of politicians retired bureaucrats and members of the foreign students associations, blind and handicapped students also greeted the governor.