Arif Khan among 4 new governors, Kalraj shifted to Raj

Arif Mohammed Khan, a prominent Muslim leader who quit Rajiv Gandhi government and supported the BJP on the triple talaq law, along with three senior BJP leaders were appointed Governors on Sunday while Kalraj Mishra was shifted from Himachal Pradesh to the key state of Rajasthan where the Congress is in power.

While Khan heads to Kerala Raj Bhavan, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister B S Koshiyari (Maharashtra), former Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya (Himachal Pradesh) and BJP Tamil Nadu chief Tamilisai Soundararajan (Telangana) have also been appointed as Governors by President Ram Nath Kovind.

However, the government has not named a Governor for Karnataka even as the term of incumbent Vajubhai has ended.

The new appointment also shows that former Intelligence Bureau Director E S L Narasimhan, who has been a Governor since 2007 and whom Narendra Modi government retained despite being a UPA appointee, is out of Raj Bhavan. He was divested of the charge of Andhra Pradesh in July while he was continuing as Telangana Governor.

Last month, the government had appointed seven new Governors, including Kalraj Mishra (Himachal Pradesh), Jagdeep Dhankar (West Bengal), Ramesh Bais (Tripura), Phagu Chauhan (Bihar) and R N Ravi (Nagaland) among others. Within less than two months, Mishra is shifting to Rajasthan where veteran BJP leader Kalyan Singh is completing his tenure.

Khan (68), who quit the Rajiv Gandhi government in protest against bringing in a law to nullify the Shah Bano judgement and later joined V P Singh's government, is being rewarded for his support for the Narendra Modi government, especially in the triple talaq law. Earlier, there were speculation that Khan may be brought into Rajya Sabha.

He had stints in Bharatiya Kranti Dal, Congress, Janata Dal and BSP before joining BJP in 2004 and then leaving in 2007.

Khan will be succeeding former Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, who is completing his tenure on September 4. It is not clear whether Sathasivam will get an extension as Governor in another state though there are talks about such a move.

Koshiyari (77) heads to Maharashtra where C Vidyasagar Rao's term has ended on Saturday while Soundarajan (58), a doctor by profession and who was defeated by DMK's Kanimozhi in the recent elections, will move to Telangana Raj Bhavan. Dattatreya (72) will succeed Mishra in Himachal Pradesh Raj Bhavan.

The appointments of Dattatreya and Soundarajan are being viewed as the BJP's message to people in Telangana and Tamil Nadu where it is planning to build the party. With Soundarajan's exit from Tamil Nadu, the party will have to look for a new president.