President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday appointed new Governors for five States —Tamil Nadu, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya — and also lieutenant-Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
A former Navy chief and a former NSG Commander figure among the gubernatorial appointments made by the President.
Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi, the former Chief of Naval Staff who had resigned after taking moral responsibility for the fire aboard INS Sindhuratna, will be the lieutenant- Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in place of incumbent Jagdish Mukhi, who will be the new Governor of Assam.
Mukhi will replace Banwarilal Purohit, who has been made the Governor of the politically turbulent State of Tamil Nadu which will have a full-time Governor after about a year. 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 TN due to the fluid political situation that arose following the death of J Jayalalithaa in December.
Brigadier (Retd) BD Mishra, who was the Commander of the NSG (Black Cat Commandos) Counter-Hijack Task Force that was involved in rescue operations after an Indian Airlines aircraft was hijacked in 1993, will be the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya was holding the additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh.
Senior BJP leader Satya Pal Malik will be the new governor of Bihar. The post had fallen vacant after Kovind was nominated as the BJP’s presidential candidate and elected in July this year.
Former member of Bihar legislative Council Ganga Prasad will be the new Governor of Meghalaya. Purohit was holding the additional charge of Meghalaya. A special invitee to BJP’s national executive, Prasad has also been the leader of the opposition for five years in the Bihar legislative Council.