New Delhi: In a surprise move, the government cleared the name of eminent lawyer Soli Sorabjee for the post of governor late on Friday night. Top government sources said Mr Sorabjee was tipped to be the next governor of Karnataka and that a formal proposal, along with six others, is likely to be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee over the next few days.
Sources said that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh, who discussed the issue of appointment of governors on Friday night, were on the same page that apart from top party leaders, eminent people who have excelled in different fields should also be considered for gubernatorial posts.
The names for the proposed governors were then discussed with other top ministers, including finance minister Arun Jaitley. Mr Sorabjee, apart from being one of the seniormost lawyers of the apex court, was also the attorney-general during the NDA government.
The government, so far, sources said, is still not very sure about the timing of appointing the new governors. While one section within the government feels that the exercise should be carried out after the crucial Budget Session, which culminates onAugust 14, there is another view that it should be done immediately. The PM is likely to take a final call on the issue next week.
Apart from Mr Sorabjee, others included in the final list of governors are former petroleum minister Ram Naik, senior BJP leaders from Uttar Pradesh Lalji Tandon and Kesri Nath Tripathi, senior leader from Madhya Pradesh Kailash Joshi, Delhi BJP leader V.K. Malhotra and former Punjab minister Balramji Das Tandon.
