Tamil Nadu, four other states get new Governors

Assam Governor Purohit was holding additional charge as Meghalaya Governor since January 27, 2017, after V Shanmuganathan resigned following allegations of turning the Shillong Raj Bhavan into a “young ladies’ club”.

Five states-Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and politically volatile Tamil Nadu-got new Governors on Saturday, elevating four BJP leaders and a security forces veteran to Raj Bhavans. A former Chief of the Naval Staff who resigned after a fire that killed two of his officers on board a submarine, will be the new Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

President Ramnath Kovind appointed Banwarilal Purohit, former BJP member of the Lok Sabha and a veteran of Maharashtra politics, the Governor of Tamil Nadu, moving him to Chennai from Guwahati, where he had been Governor of Assam since August 2016. Purohit takes charge as the ruling AIADMK faces internal turmoil, with a faction led by TTV Dinakaran, which has rebelled against Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam, demanding a floor test. All parties have been wanting a full-time Governor for the state, where Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao has been holding additional charge.

Purohit is also credited with reviving The Hitavada, the Nagpur-based English daily that was founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. BJP vice president Satya Pal Malik, a former MLA and MP from Uttar Pradesh, has been appointed Governor of Bihar, a position vacated by President Kovind. Malik was head of the eight-member panel that looked into the controversial land acquisition bill after the BJP was cornered by the Opposition over the “anti-farmer” clauses in the Bill.

The appointment of Malik, who had been groomed by Janata stalwart Charan Singh, and was a minister in the V P Singh-led government, was welcomed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. A former socialist leader’s appointment indicates that the BJP leadership does not want to create any “discomfort” for Nitish, party sources said.

Party veteran from UP Kalraj Mishra, who was widely expected to be made Governor after he resigned from the Union Cabinet, told The Indian Express: “I resigned from the government on my own. I was not expecting anything. I will accept whatever the party decides for me.”

Jagdish Mukhi, the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar, who took to active politics after the Emergency, will be the new Governor of Assam. He had been a committed BJP worker for many decades and won the Janakpuri Assembly seat in Delhi seven times for the party.

Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi, Navy Chief from August 2012 to February 26, 2014, will replace Mukhi as the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Joshi had resigned taking moral responsibility after a fire on board the INS Sindhuratna. He has been awarded the Param Vishist Seva Medal, the Ati Vishist Seva medal, Yudh Seva Medal, Nau Sena Medal and the Vishist Seva Medal.

Brigadier (Retd) B D Mishra, commander of the NSG (Black Cat commandos) Counter Hijack Task Force, will be the new Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. Mishra’s force was involved in the rescue operation after an Indian Airlines aircraft was hijacked in 1993. Mishra was part of the committee that convened Narendra Modi’s first rally days after the BJP nominated him as its prime ministerial candidate in September 2013. The rally was held at Rewari, Haryana, and was attended by Gen (retired) V K Singh, who later joined the BJP and is now a minister in the government.

Ganga Prasad, a former powerful MLC from Bihar, has been named the 17th Governor of Meghalaya. MLC in Bihar for 18 years, Prasad had also been Leader of Opposition for five years in the state Assembly, and was chief of the Bihar Legislative Council during the previous NDA regime.

Assam Governor Purohit was holding additional charge as Meghalaya Governor since January 27, 2017, after V Shanmuganathan resigned following allegations of turning the Shillong Raj Bhavan into a “young ladies’ club”.

With inputs from Samudra Gupta Kashyap