Union minister Gehlot appointed Karnataka Governor amid cabinet reshuffle buzz
New Delhi, Jul 06 (PTI): Amid buzz around cabinet reshuffle, Union minister Thaawarchand Gehlot was on Tuesday appointed as Governor of Karnataka as the government also named three other senior BJP leaders for gubernatorial posts in Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh.
According to a Rashtrapati Bhawan communique, 73-year-old Gehlot, who held portfolio of Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, will replace Vajubhai Vala, who has been the governor of the southern state since 2014.
Among the other appointments are BJP leaders Hari Babu Kambhampati (Mizoram), Mangubhai Chaganbhai Patel (Madhya Pradesh) and Rajendran Vishwanath Arlekar (Himachal Pradesh).
An RSS member who moved to BJP in 1989, 67-year-old Arlekar, a former speaker of the Goa assembly, will take over in Himachal Pradesh from Bandaru Dattatreya, who has been shifted to neighbouring state of Haryana.
Kambhampati, a BJP veteran from Andhra Pradesh, takes over in Mizoram replacing P S Sreedharan Pillai, who has since been shifted to Goa for remaining part of his tenure.
Tripura Governor Ramesh Bais has been transferred and appointed as Governor of Jharkhand, succeeding Droupadi Murmu, according to the communique.
These appointments will be in effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices, it said.
Cabinet reshuffle likely on July 7
New Delhi: The much-anticipated Union Cabinet reshuffle is expected to take place on July 7, sources said on Tuesday. The buzz that was going on for quite some time intensified after a series of meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda in the national capital. Sources stated that Nadda had been frequently visiting the prime minister’s residence for a month now.
According to sources, it is likely that four ministers could be inducted from Bihar.
The sources told that among the four likely to be included in the cabinet — two are from Janata Dal-United, one from Lok Janshakti Party (Pashupati Paras faction), and one from the BJP. Earlier, sources in the BJP stated that the party is likely to accommodate a few of its prominent leaders and National Democratic Alliance members in the Narendra Modi Cabinet soon. It has been two years since the NDA came back to power in 2019. There is also speculation of several senior leaders like former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia being accommodated.
Recently, Uttarakhand former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat met the PM as well.
Several positions in the Cabinet are vacant due to the exit of the Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal and the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan of the Jan Lokshakti Party.
Party sources had earlier stated that leaders from several key states like Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are also expected to be accommodated in the expansion as the BJP aims to expand in these states in the future.
