Ram Naik appointed Uttar Pradesh governor in NDA phase of appointments
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday appointed the first set of five new governors of the NDA government, giving senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ram Naik charge of the Uttar Pradesh Raj Bhavan even as the party’s veteran Delhi leader, Mr O.P. Kohli, has been sent to the Gujarat Raj Bhavan.
Former Uttar Pradesh Speaker Keshari Nath Tripathi will take over as the West Bengal governor, a post which had fallen vacant after the resignation of M.K. Narayanan. Balram Das Tandon, 87, founder member of the Jana Sangh in 1951, has been appointed the governor of Chhattisgarh after the home ministry nudged Shekhar Dutt to resign along with other UPA appointees holding gubernatorial posts.
The fifth appointee to a gubernatorial post is Padmanabha Acharya, appointed as governor of Nagaland with additional charge of Tripura until regular arrangements are made. His appointment came on Monday after the President accepted the resignation of Vakkom Purushothaman who had refused to go to Nagaland after his transfer from the Mizoram Raj Bhavan.
“The appointments will take effect from the dates the incumbents assume charge of their respective offices,” a Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué said.
According to the Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué, senior BJP leader Ram Naik will take over in Uttar Pradesh after B.L. Joshi. A three-time parliamentarian, the 80-year-old Mr Naik has the rare distinction of being the only minister who completed five years as petroleum and natural gas minister in one government.
Meanwhile, the new Gujarat governor, the 78-year-old Mr Kohli, was a Rajya Sabha member from 1994 to 2000.
He takes over from 87-year-old Kamla Beniwal, who was recently shifted to Mizoram by the BJP government for the remainder of her term till November this year.
Meanwhile, the new West Bengal governor, who will turn 80 in November this year, has been a five-time MLA who has written several books and had gone to jail in connection with the Kashmir movement during his student days.
On the other hand, Mr Tandon had served as the deputy chief minister of Punjab in 1969 and later served as Cabinet minister in Parkash Singh Badal’s government.
Mr Acharya has been a member of the working group on the Northeast region of the BJP and co-convenor of overseas friends of the BJP. On Monday, the President asked Mr Acharya to perform the duties of Tripura governor until regular arrangements are made, the communiqué said.
