Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai among new governors appointed in 5 states

Five states got new governors on Sunday after a latest round of reshuffle by the central government. Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan was appointed as the governor of Telangana while former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari will be the new governor of Maharashtra.

Kalraj Mishra has been transferred from Himachal Pradesh to Rajasthan, where he replaces Kalyan Singh as the new Governor. Former union minister Bandaru Dattatreya replaces Mishra in Himachal Pradesh.

Mishra, 78, had resigned from the central government in 2017 as minister for micro, small and medium enterprises after crossing the age of 75 which is the BJP’s unofficial age limit to hold elected posts. A senior leader of Uttar Pradesh BJP, he was the party’s state unit chief earlier.

Koshyari replaces Vidyasagar Rao in Maharashtra while former Union minister Arif Mohammed Khan will take over in Kerala from P Sathasivam, the former chief justice of India whose five-year term came to an end. Maharashtra ,a crucial state for the BJP, goes to polls later this year.

Khan said the appointment is another opportunity to serve the country. “Fortunate to be born in a country like India which is so vast and rich in diversity. It’s a great opportunity for me to know this part of India, which forms boundary of India and is called god’s own country,” Khan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Tamilisai Soundararajan, daughter of former Tamil Nadu Congress unit president Kumari Ananthan, replaces ESL Narasimhan in Telangana. The 58-year-old is a physician-turned-politician who took the political plunge in 1999. She started with the BJP’s south Chennai wing and occupied various positions over the years. Soundararajan was appointed as the Tamil Nadu BJP chief in 2014 after the resignation of Pon Radhakrishnan.

Bandaru Dattatreya thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah after being appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh. “They have given this responsibility to me as the governor of Himachal Pradesh& I will work as per the Constitution,” Dattatreya was quoted as saying by ANI.

The new governor appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their offices, said a communique from the President Ram Nath Kovind.