BS Koshyari, RSS veteran and a former Chief Minister and MP, was appointed Governor in 2019
New Delhi:
Maharashtra was among 12 states to get a new Governor as President Droupadi Murmu made crucial Constitutional appointments this morning. The President also appointed a new Lieutenant Governor for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Ramesh Bais, former Jharkhand governor, will replace Bhagat Singh Koshyari as Maharashtra Governor. Mr Koshyari’s exit from Raj Bhavan has been welcomed by Opposition leaders who had earlier accused him of hurting Marathi sentiment with his controversial remarks on icons.
Eighty-year-old Koshyari had last month told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he wished to step down from the top post. “Governor Koshyari has expressed his desire to spend the rest of his life in reading, writing and other leisurely activities,” read a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan.
Mr Koshyari, an RSS veteran who has served as a Chief Minister and an MP in both Houses of Parliament, was appointed Governor in 2019. During his tenure, he frequently hit headlines over his multiple run-ins with the Uddhav Thackeray government and his controversial statements.
In fact, soon after his appointment, he sparked a row by presiding over an early morning oath ceremony for Devendra Fadnavis even before Mr Thackeray and the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP could stake claim to form government.
Thereafter, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government and the Raj Bhavan clashed on several issues, including the reopening of temples after the Covid pandemic, refusal of a state plane for Mr Koshyari’s visit to Dehradun and a special Assembly session following the rape and murder of a woman in Mumbai’s Sakinaka.
Mr Koshyari sparked a row in November last year when he said Chhattrapati Shivaji was “an icon of the old days”. Top BJP leaders had to jump into the firefight as the political opposition accused the Governor of insulting the Maratha leader.
Prior to that, he courted controversy when he said Maharashtra will have no money left if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis leave.
Aaditya Thackeray, former minister and a leader of the Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, welcomed the appointment of the new Governor, calling it a “big win for Maharashtra”.
Big win for Maharashtra!
The resignation of anti Maharashtra Governor has finally been accepted!
He, who constantly insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule & Savitri bai Phule, our Constitution, Assembly & democratic ideals, cannot be accepted as a Governor!
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) February 12, 2023
Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party also welcomed Mr Koshyari’s exit. NCP’s national spokesperson Clyde Castro said Mr Koshyari had been courting controversy with uncalled-for statements.
Besides Maharashtra, the President has appointed Governors to 11 states and a Lieutenant Governor to Ladakh.
In Ladakh, a Union Territory carved out of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) will take over the top post after Rashtrapati Bhavan accepted the resignation of incumbent Radha Krishna Mathur. Mr Mishra earlier served as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, also a key strategic region as Ladakh.
The appointment comes amid growing demand for statehood and a special status for Ladakh. Leaders of the region have raised environmental concerns over the massive infrastructure push and demanded autonomy that they say would help them bring development in a manner they want.
Lt. General Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik (Retired) will take over as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Lakshman Prasad Acharya as Governor of Sikkim, C P Radhakrishnan as Governor of Jharkhand and Shiv Pratap Shukla as Governor of Himachal Pradesh. Shiv Pratap Shukla is a former Union Minister and an influential Brahmin leader from Uttar Pradesh.
Also, Gulab Chand Kataria has been appointed Governor of Assam, former Supreme Court judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer as Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Biswa Bhusan Harichandan as Governor of Chhattisgarh and Anusuiya Uikye as Governor of Manipur. Mr Harichandan and Ms Uikye were earlier serving on the top posts in Andhra and Chhattisgarh, respectively.
The appointment of Mr Kataria is politically significant. A sitting MLA with strong RSS connections, he was a key contender for the Chief Minister’s post in the run-up to this year’s Rajasthan polls. His appointment could be seen as a well-thought-out move to remove him from the big race.
Another key appointment is that of Justice Nazeer, who was part of the five-member Constitution bench that delivered the unanimous judgment in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi case in 2019.
Manipur Governor La Ganesan is now Governor of Nagaland, Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan now takes over the top post in Meghalaya and Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, now Himachal Pradesh Governor, has been appointed Bihar Governor.
Source link: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ramesh-bais-appointed-maharashtra-governor-after-president-droupadi-murmu-accepts-bs-koshyaris-resignation-3775017