The Hindu : Front Page : Shinde appointed Governor of Andhra Pradesh; Barnala to move over to Tamil Nadu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 31, 2004

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Shinde appointed Governor of Andhra Pradesh; Barnala to move over to Tamil Nadu

By Vinay Kumar

Surjit Singh Barnala

NEW DELHI, OCT. 30. The Andhra Pradesh Governor, Surjit Singh Barnala, was today transferred and appointed as Governor of Tamil Nadu, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué said here today. The former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, replaces him in the Raj Bhavan at Hyderabad.

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has accepted the resignation of P.S. Ramamohan Rao as the Governor of Tamil Nadu, it said.

It is a second innings in Chennai for Mr. Barnala, 79. His earlier term was during 1989-90. He was appointed Governor of Uttaranchal during the erstwhile National Democratic Alliance regime and was then shifted to Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Barnala's appointment comes amid controversy. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, is not in agreement with the appointment of Mr. Barnala. The Supreme Court yesterday rejected her Government's plea to get the removal of Mr. Ramamohan Rao stayed. There were reports that Mr. Barnala's transfer from Hyderabad to Chennai was favoured by the Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam, a key ally of the ruling UPA.

Mr. Shinde, 62, who led the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine to victory in the October 13 Maharashtra Assembly elections, lost the race for Chief Ministership in that State as the Congress plumped for Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Additional duties

The President has also accepted the resignation of Justice M. Rama Jois (retd.) as Governor of Bihar and appointed Ved Prakash Marwah, Jharkhand Governor, to discharge his functions.

The resignation of Justice Om Prakash Verma as the Governor of Punjab was also accepted, the communiqué said. It said that Haryana Governor, A.R. Kidwai, would discharge his functions and also be the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Authoritative sources said the former Union Home Minister, Buta Singh, was tipped to be Bihar Governor while the former Haryana Chief Minister, Bansi Lal, who recently merged his breakaway Haryana Vikas Party with the Congress, was almost certain to be appointed Rajasthan Governor. For the Punjab governorship, the Government is said to have chosen the former Army Chief, Gen. (retd.) S. F. Rodrigues. An official notification appointing the three Governors is likely to be issued soon.

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