The NDA government is likely to come out with its first list of governors before the commencement of the budget session next month. “I cannot rule out appointment of governors before Parliament session beginning July 7,” Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said.
Governors of two states – Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – have already put in their papers. The tenure of Karnataka governor HR Bhardwaj is drawing to a close on June 28. His Haryana counterpart Jagannath Pahadia bows out on July 26. Tripura governor Devanand Konwar’s term is coming to an end in August.
There are indications that a few other governors, all of whom were appointed by the previous UPA government, may decide to resign from their posts soon to allow the new government to fill up these vacancies with its candidates.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highly-placed sources said, is expected to begin consultations with his senior ministerial colleagues and top leaders of the BJP soon to draft a list of their nominees for the Raj Bhawans. There are quite a few BJP veterans who are hoping to be rehabilitated as governors. They include former Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon, former Uttar Pradesh speaker Kesarinath Tripathi, former Punjab minister Balram Das Tandon, former union ministers Ram Naik and O Rajagopal and former leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
The government’s attempt to nudge a few governors into sending in their resignations has met with little success so far. Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who was appointed as the governor of Kerala just days before the Lok Sabha polls, and K Sankaranarayanan, who is the governor of Maharashtra, have resisted plans to secure their resignations.
Mr. Sankaranarayanan, who said he had received two calls from the Home Secretary, told NDTV earlier this month that he would think of resigning only if it came from proper channels. “I wouldn’t say it is a witch-hunt, no chair or post is permanent,” he said.
