Even as a storm brewed over the replacement of Governors appointed by the UPA regime by Narendra Modi-led NDA government on Friday, names have started doing the rounds of BJP leaders who could be their replacement.
After getting feelers by the Centre some Governors appointed by the previous UPA government to quit, Uttar Pradesh Governor BL Joshi resigned today.
As per reports, Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami called at least five Governors including K Sankaranarayanan of Maharashtra to put in their papers.
It is also being said that West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan and Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal have also been asked to quit.
Another UPA appointee who may have been asked to go is Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit, However, she refused to comment on the topic when questioned by the media.
On the other hand Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva is understood to have not been asked to leave as yet.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Governor HR Bhardawaj and Assam Governor, JB Patnaik met the President today.
As for replacement of these Governors, the names of those BJP leaders doing the rounds are – Kesri Nath Tripathi, Kalyan Singh, VK Malhotra, CP Thakur, Kailash Chandra Joshi and Balram Das Tandon amongst others.
The name of Yashwant Sinha, MM Joshi, Shanta Kumar, Lalji Tandon and BC Khanduri have also been doing the rounds for some time now.
CP Thakur is presently a Rajya Sabha member and is a BJP leader from Bihar. He was a minister in Vajpayee’s regime from 1999 to 2004.
Kalyan Singh hails from Uttar Pradesh. He has served as the Chief Minister of the state three times. He quit the BJP couple of times and then came back to the party fold. He was the CM when Babri Masjid was demolished on 6 December 1992 and his role has been considered controversial in the entire matter.
Kailsh Chandra Joshi is a former CM of Madhya Pradesh and served from June 1977 to January 1978. He was a member of the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha.
Vijay Kumar Malhotra represented Delhi Sadar and South Delhi constituencies in the ninth and fourteenth Lok Sabha respectively. He is also a sports administrator.
Kesri Nath Tripathi is a former speaker of UP Assembly and was a member of the UP legislative Assembly five times – 1977-1980, 1989-1991,1991-1992,1993-1995, 1996-2002 and 2002-2007.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) acts as advisor to the President on the appointment of Governors
Modi who took oath as PM on May 26 had left out senior party leaders who were above the age of 75.
