President clears appointment and reshuffling of 8 governors; Shiv Raj Patil sent to Punjab, MK Narayanan to West Bengal
merisarkar news service
New Delhi, January 17, 2010
M. K. Narayanan
President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil has cleared the names of governors of eight states on Saturday. National Security Adviser M K Narayanan was appointed Governor of W. Bengal and former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has been sent to Punjab as its new governor.
A former chief of Intelligence Bureau MK Narayanan has been National Security Advisor for past five years. But he had a tough time after P. Chidambaram took over as home minister in 2008.
His appointment has created the vacancy for new NSA. Former Foreign Secretaries Shyam Saran and Shivshankar Menon are believed to be the front runners for the post.
Shivraj Patil, who was forced to resign due to vehement public criticism in the wake of 26/11 terror attack, has been appointed the new governor of Punjab. Mr. Patil will have the additional charge of administrator of Union territory of Chandigarh.
Shivraj Patil
Jharkhand Governor K Sankarnarayanan is shifted to Maharashtra to replace former Nagaland chief minister S C Jamir. Seniour Congress leader MOH Farook will be the new Governor of Jharkhand in his place.
Former Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt is appointed the new Governor of Chhattisgarh from where ESL Narasimhan moves to Andhra Pradesh Raj Bhavan to succeed ND Tiwari.
ESL Narasimhan is also a former IB chief.
Senior Congress leader Urmila Singh will be the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh from where Prabha Rau was transferred to Rajasthan as the new governor of the state.
The appointment of the Governors will take effect from the dates they assume their duties, the communique issued by the president house said.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi cleared the names in a meeting on Friday in New Delhi.
