New Delhi: Banwarilal Purohit was today appointed as the governor of Tamil Nadu and senior BJP leader Satya Pal Malik would be the new governor of Bihar.
Jagdish Mukhi would be the new governor of Assam in place of Purohit, a press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
The appointments of five governors, including for Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, and Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been cleared by President Ram Nath Kovind, it said.
Former member of Bihar Legislative Council Ganga Prasad has been appointed as the governor of Meghalaya. Purohit was holding the additional charge of Meghalaya.
Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi will be the lieutenant governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in place of Mukhi, the release said.
Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao was holding the additional charge of Tamil Nadu. There had been demands of appointment of a full-time governor in Tamil Nadu due to the political situation that arose following the death of J Jayalalithaa in December.
Malik, former MP and BJP’s national vice president, has been appointed the Bihar governor. The post had fallen vacant after Kovind was nominated as the BJP’s presidential candidate. He was elected as president in July this year.
Brigadier (Retd) B D Mishra would be governor of Arunachal Pradesh, it said.
Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya was holding the additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh.
Purohit, the new Tamil Nadu governor, was a public personality inseparably involved in social, political, educational and industrial fields of Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
He had plunged into active politics in 1977 and had won election in Maharashtra Assembly for the first time in 1978 from Nagpur east seat.
Purohit is also credited with revival of ‘The Hitavada’, an English daily founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the mentor of Mahatma Gandhi.
Malik, the new Bihar governor, is in-charge of the party’s Kisan Morcha and has held many important positions in both Centre and state.
He was the Union minister of state, parliamentary affairs and tourism from April 21, 1990 to November 10, 1990.
Malik has been a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) during two terms from 1980 to 1984 and from 1986 to 1989. He was also a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and was also the member of Uttar Pradesh Assembly from 1974 to 1977.
Prasad, the new governor of Meghalaya, was elected for the first time as a member of Legislative Council in Bihar in 1994 and was an MLC for 18 years. He has served in various capacities such as the leader of the BJP in the Legislative Council.
A special invitee to BJP’s national executive, Prasad has also been the leader of the opposition for five years in the Legislative Council.
Mukhi, the new governor of Assam, took to active politics after the Emergency was clamped. He has won seven times from Janak Puri Assembly constituency in Delhi.
Mukhi, who was a professor in Delhi University, had been a minister and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly.
Joshi, the new lieutenant governor, was the chief of Naval Staff from August 2012 to February 26, 2014. He had resigned after taking moral responsibility of fire in INS Sindhuratna, a submarine, according to official records.
Joshi is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned on April 1, 1974 in the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy, they say.
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.
Mishra, the new governor of Arunachal Pradesh, was the commander of the NSG (Black Cat commandos) Counter Hijack Task Force that was involved in the rescue operation after an Indian Airlines aircraft was hijacked in 1993.
He has served in various wars and operational roles for the nation. He also volunteered for Kargil War after retirement and has received commendation for gallant role in counter terrorist operations.
(PTI)
