Modi government appoints new governors in four states

New Delhi: The BJP-led NDA government has finalised the Governor for Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Goa. As per the announcement made by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday, veteran BJP leader and former CM of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh will be the new Governor of Rajasthan.Incumbent Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala will be the Governor of Karnataka where as former union minister from Andhra Pradesh Vidyasagar Rao and former BJP Mahila Morcha leader Mridula Sinha will the new Governors of Maharashtra and Goa respectively.The post of Rajasthan Governor fell vacant after Margaret Alva completed her tenure early this month.Maharashtra Governor's post fell vacant yesterday when incumbent K Sankaranarayanan resigned after he was transferred to Mizoram.Post of the Governor of Karnataka has remained vacant since July end when former Law Minister HR Bhardwaj had completed his five year tenure.Goa Governor's post fell vacant when former SPG chief BV Wanchoo resigned last month. Mridula Sinha, who belongs to Bihar, had served as chairperson of Central Board of Social Welfare and authored several Hindi novels.Earlier, the NDA government had sacked Mizoram Governor Kamla Beniwal, who had served in Gujarat earlier and had a running battle with Narendra Modi when he was the state's Chief Minister.Virendra Kataria, a former Congress leader, was also sacked as Puducherry Lieutenant Governor last month.Five other Governors -- MK Narayanan, Ashwani Kumar, BL Joshi, BV Wanchoo and Shekhar Dutt had put in their papers apparently after they were telephoned by the Union Home Secretary.Veteran Congress leader Jagannath Pahadia has completed his tenure as Governor of Haryana last year.Uttrakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi has challenged Modi government's moves to ease him out of office, bringing the controversy over removal of UPA-appointed Governors under judicial lens.The NDA government has so far appointed six Governors - Ram Naik, Keshari Nath Tripathi, Om Prakash Kohli, Balram Ji Das Tandan, Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya and Kaptan Singh Solanki.