Alexander gets fresh term as State Governor

NEW DELHI, April 17: Former deputy speaker of Lok Sabha, Suraj Bhan was tonight appointed governor of Uttar Pradesh succeeding controversial...

NEW DELHI, April 17: Former deputy speaker of Lok Sabha, Suraj Bhan was tonight appointed governor of Uttar Pradesh succeeding controversial Romesh Bhandari and Maharashtra Governor PC Alexander was given a fresh five-year term in office.

Announcing the appointment of six governors and two Lt governors, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said 1971 Bangladesh war hero Lt Gen (Retd) JFR Jacob will be the new Governor of Goa and BJP veteran Bhai Mahavir will take over the gubernatorial office in Madhya Pradesh.

Former Tamil Nadu chief secretary and UPSC member, A Padmanaban who is also on the Prasar Bharati board and retired justice Anshuman Singh will be governors of Mizoram and Gujarat respectively.

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Former chief secretary of Delhi, Vijay Kapoor, a member of the BJP manifesto committee, has been appointed Lt governor of Delhi while Dr (Mrs) Rajani Rai will be Lt governor of Pondicherry.

The first round of appointments has left out West Bengal where a vacancy has arisen with the expiry of the term ofincumbent Raghunath Reddy. A decision is likely to be taken after discussions between West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and Union Home Minister LK Advani tomorrow.

The appointment of the governors had its share of drama as JF Ribeiro’s nomination was opposed by the Akali Dal.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief and senior Akali Dal leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra expressed strong concern over the move of the AB Vajpayee government to appoint the former Punjab DGP as governor.

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In a telegram sent to the Prime Minister with a copy to the Home Minister, Tohra pointed out that Ribeiro was responsible for police excesses and curtailment of human rights in Punjab which could not be forgotten by the people in the State.