T Soundararajan appointed as the new Governor of Telangana

Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, chief of the BJP Tamil Nadu State unit, has been appointed as the Governor of Telangana, while senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya will be the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

Soundararajan (58) is one of the prominent figures of BJP in Tamil Naidu, where the party has been striving for a firm foothold without any significant success for long. She also served the party as its national secretary. She will replace ESL Narasimhan, the first Governor of the 29th State in Raj Bhavan. Her appointment to the office of Governor is being viewed as recognition to her efforts to strengthen the saffron party in the crucial southern State.

Meanwhile, Dattatreya, who was on a long wait for the gubernatorial appointment, finally had his name figured in the list of five new Governors announced by President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday. He will replace Kalraj Mishra, who has been moved to Rajasthan.

Wishing Dattatreya a wonderful tenure in his new role, TRS working president KT Rama Rao tweeted: “Many congratulations to Sri @Dattatreya Garu on his being appointed Governor of Himachal Pradesh”. Rama Rao also extended his thanks to ESL Narasimhan for the guidance he gave to Telangana in its development. “Had the good fortune of interacting numerous times in various capacities with



Hon’ble Governor Sri ESL Narasimhan Garu. Wholeheartedly, thank sir for his sagacious guidance & for being a father figure for the State throughout last 10 years. Wishing you good health & peace sir,” Rama Rao tweeted.

Narasimhan who was appointed as Governor of Andhra Pradesh in 2009, and continued to be the Governor of both the Telugu States even after the bifurcation. Andhra Pradesh got its new Governor in the form of BJP senior leader from Odisha, Bishwa Bhushan Harichandan, recently. Narasimhan was the only UPA appointee to be continued in the post for the second term in the NDA rule.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who shared very cordial relations with Narasimhan all through his tenure, called on him at Raj Bhavan on Sunday evening. “They were closeted for some time. It is just a courtesy call,” sources at Raj Bhavan said.

Meanwhile, prominent Muslim face Arif Mohammed Khan, who quit the Rajiv Gandhi government in protest against the enactment of a law to nullify the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case, was on Sunday appointed as Governor of Kerala.

BJP leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari (77) will be the new Governor of Maharashtra, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.