Five states get new governors

New Delhi: Banwarilal Purohit was on Saturday appointed as the governor of Tamil Nadu and senior BJP leader Satya Pal Malik would be the new governor of Bihar.

Jagdish Mukhi would be the new governor of Assam in place of Purohit, a press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

The appointments of five governors, including for north-eastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, and Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been cleared by President Ram Nath Kovind, it said.

A former member of Bihar Legislative Council Ganga Prasad has been appointed as the governor of Meghalaya. Purohit was holding the additional charge of Meghalaya.

Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi will be the lieutenant governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in place of Mukhi, the release said.

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 Tamil Nadu due to the political situation that arose following the death of J Jayalalithaa in December.

Malik, former MP and BJP's national vice president, has been appointed the Bihar governor. The post had fallen vacant after Kovind was nominated as the BJP's presidential candidate. He was elected as president in July this year.

Brigadier (Retd) B D Mishra would be governor of Arunachal Pradesh, it said.

Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya was holding the additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh.

Purohit, the new Tamil Nadu governor, was a public personality inseparably involved in social, political, educational and industrial fields of Vidarbha in Maharashtra.

Malik, the new Bihar governor, is in-charge of the party's Kisan Morcha and has held many important positions in both Centre and state.

Prasad, the new governor of Meghalaya, was elected for the first time as a member of Legislative Council in Bihar in 1994 and was an MLC for 18 years. He has served in various capacities such as the leader of the BJP in the Legislative Council.

Mukhi, the new governor of Assam, took to active politics after the Emergency was clamped. He has won seven times from Janak Puri Assembly constituency in Delhi.

Joshi, the new lieutenant governor, was the chief of Naval Staff from August 2012 to February 26, 2014. He had resigned after taking moral responsibility for the fire in INS Sindhuratna, a submarine, according to official records.

Mishra, the new governor of Arunachal Pradesh, was the commander of the NSG (Black Cat commandos) Counter Hijack Task Force that was involved in the rescue operation after an Indian Airlines aircraft was hijacked in 1993.

He has served in various wars and operational roles for the nation. He also volunteered for Kargil War after retirement and has received commendation for a gallant role in counter-terrorist operations.