This Article is From Jan 17, 2010

New Governors finalised; Narayanan gets West Bengal

New Governors finalised; Narayanan gets West Bengal
New Delhi: National Security Adviser (NSA) M K Narayanan was on Saturday night appointed Governor of West Bengal and former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil will head the Raj Bhawan in Punjab as the President cleared a list of new Governors for various states.

75-year-old Narayanan, a former IB chief, moves to the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata after a five-year stint as NSA, which creates a vacancy in the NSA's post for which former Foreign Secretaries Shyam Saran and Shivshankar Menon are believed to be the front runners.

Shivraj Patil, who had to resign as Union Home Minister in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack in November, 2008, has been appointed Governor of Punjab and given the additional charge as Administrator of the union territory of Chandigarh, a communique issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan late tonight said.

Jharkhand Governor K Sankarnarayanan was shifted to Maharashtra to replace former Nagaland chief minister S C Jamir and senior Congress leader M O H Farook will be the new Governor of Jharkhand.

Farook was a former Chief Minister of Pondicherry and a union minister in the government of P V Narasimha Rao.

Sankaranarayanan will serve the remainder of his term in Maharashtra, the communique said.

Former Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt was appointed Governor of Chhattisgarh from where E S L Narasimhan moves to Andhra Pradesh Raj Bhavan to succeed N D Tiwari who quit in the wake of a sting operation by a TV channel purportedly showing him in compromising position with women.

Narasimhan, also a former IB chief, will also serve the remainder of his term in Andhra Pradesh.

Senior Congress leader Urmila Singh will be the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh from where Prabha Rau was transferred to head the Raj Bhawan in Rajasthan where she will serve the remainder of her term.

The appointment of the Governors will take effect from the dates they assume their duties, the communique said.

The names of the Governors were cleared at a meeting between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday.

Narayanan becomes West Bengal Governor in place of Gopal Krishen Gandhi who demitted his office recently.

Mayankote Kelath Narayanan was actively involved in Indo-US nuclear deal and had initiated talks as India's Special Representative with China on border dispute.

The tenure of 74-year-old Shivraj Patil, the new Punjab Governor, as Home Minister had come under severe criticism in the aftermath of 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and had to quit.

New Jharkhand Governor M O Hasan Farook Maricar, 71, was the third Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry (then Pondicherry) where he had served from April 9, 1967 to March 6, 1968 and March 17, 1969 to January 3, 1974.

77-year-old Kateekal Sankaranarayanan, who was shifted as Andhra Pradesh Governor, hails from Kerala and had held cabinet berths and been the Governor of Nagaland between February 3, 2007 and July 25, 2009.

Shekhar Dutt, a 1969-batch IAS officer, was a former Defence Secretary and Deputy National Security Adviser. He had also served the army as a Short Service Commission officer during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.

63-year-old Urmila Singh, a former Chairperson of National Commission of Scheduled Tribes, hails from Madhya Pradesh. She was involved in social service for the last 35 years, especially for women and child development, welfare of aged and infirm and tribal welfare.

Ekkadu Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan, 64, who has been appointed to Governor of Andhra Pradesh, is a former Indian Police Service officer of 1968 batch from the same state.

Having served as the First Secretary in Indian Embassy in Moscow Embassy from 1981 to 1984, he is regarded as one of the most intelligent police officers who had worked in the Intelligence Bureau for many years before retiring as its Director on December 31, 2006.

Prabha Rau, 74, who has been moved the Raj Bhawan in Jaipur following the death of SK Singh, was a former president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee before being elected as Member of Parliament in 13th Lok Sabha from Wardha in Maharashtra. She was elected to Maharashtra Assembly in 1972 for the first time.

A former athlete, Rau had represented Maharashtra in long jump, high jump, hurdles, discus throw and running. She is also a musician, and holds a Masters degree in politics and music.

The appointment of Narayanan creates a vacancy in the NSA's post for which former Foreign Secretaries Shyam Saran and Shivshankar Menon are believed to be the front runners. (With NDTV inputs)
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