4 governors appointed, former minister Najma Heptulla heads to Manipur

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 17, 2016: Najma Heptulla, who resigned as a Union minister last month, was appointed the governor of Manipur on Wednesday.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué said VP Singh Badnore, a former BJP MP from Rajasthan, was appointed the governor of election-bound Punjab and former Nagpur MP Banwarilal Purohit was appointed the Assam governor. The BJP came to power in Assam for the first time in recent elections.

Former Delhi minister Jagdish Mukhi – who had to make way for the next generation of BJP leaders in the capital – has been appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

While Heptulla had been keen on a governor’s post, a source said she had indicated her preference for a north Indian state closer to Delhi, possibly Punjab. Wednesday’s presidential order appointed her to a Raj Bhavan nearly 1700 km away.

Heptulla will be Manipur’s fifth governor since May 2014, when the NDA government came to power. Former home secretary VK Duggal had resigned from Imphal Raj Bhavan within months of the change of guard in Delhi.

KK Paul was initially given additional charge of the state. Later, Syed Ahmed, the Jharkhand governor appointed by the UPA, was sent to Manipur in May 2015. He died months later. Meghalaya governor V Shanmuganathan was also asked to hold charge of Manipur.