Govt finalises names of nine governors
PM Modi held a meeting with Rajnath Singh last week. Many issues were discussed, including the names of governors.
The NDA government has finalised the names of Governors to be appointed in nine states, where the posts have been lying vacant for several months now. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week and finalised the names. A senior official said the names are likely to be announced just before Modi’s tour to China, Mongolia and South Korea from May 14 onwards.
“The PM held a meeting with the home minister last week. Many issues were discussed, including the names of governors. The government wants to fill the vacancies in the nine states before its first anniversary,” said a senior government official.
The nine states are Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Bihar, Tripura, Telangana and Punjab. The post of lieutenant governor in Puducherry is lying vacant.
West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi is holding additional charge of three other states — Bihar, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
Sources said that Jammu and Kashmir governor N N Vohra, who was appointed by the UPA in 2008 and is currently serving his second term, could be removed. The fate of E S L Narsimhan, who holds charge of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, also hangs in the balance, sources added.
“Though the government has been mulling over the proposal to appoint governors since the transfers last year, final duties were never assigned. The home minister had a closed-door meeting with the PM and a final call was taken on the issue,” said the official.
Governors appointed by the former UPA government who are still in office are K Rosaiah (Tamil Nadu), S C Jamir (Odisha), Ram Naresh Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Syed Ahmed (Jharkhand), N N Vohra (J&K), Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil (Sikkim), E S L Narasimhan (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Lt General (retd) Nirbhay Sharma (Arunachal Pradesh), K K Paul (Uttarakhand and Manipur) and lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung (Delhi).
Source:: Indian Express