Banwarilal Purohit: Ten things you should know about Tamil Nadu's newly appointed governor

Banwarilal Purohit, currently the Governor of Assam, has been appointed as the Governor of Tamil Nadu by President Ramnath Kovind. He is taking over from Vidyasagar Rao, who is at present the Governor of Maharashtra with the additional charge of Tamil Nadu.

As a full-time Governor, Purohit will soon be facing the challenge of handling the volatile political situation in the state.

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Here are ten things you should know about Tamil Nadu's new governor.

1. Banwarilal Purohit is a public personality inseparably involved in social, political, educational and industrial fields of Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
2. Purohit entered the field of politics in 1977.
3. He had won Maharashtra Assembly election for the first time in 1978 from Nagpur east seat.
4. Soon after, he was re—elected in 1980 from Nagpur south and became a minister in 1982.
5. In 1984 and 1989, Purohit was elected to the Lok Sabha from Nagpur-Kamptee seat and was a member of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Defence Ministry.
6. He was re-elected from the Lok Sabha seat in 1996 and served as a member of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Home Affairs, Member of Standing Committee on Defence and Member of Public Sector Undertaking Committee.
7. Switching between BJP and Congress, he was under criticism and had a difficult time, especially after 2000.
8. He was appointed as the Governor of Assam in 2016, along with the additional charge of Meghalaya.
9. Purohit is also credited with revival of ‘The Hitavada’, an English daily founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the mentor of Mahatma Gandhi.
10. Under him ‘The Hitavada’ became a leading newspaper of central India and apart from its headquarters edition at Nagpur the daily also launched editions from Jabalpur, Raipur, and Bhopal.

(With agency inputs)