Goa gets full-time governor months ahead of assembly elections

Over ten months after the then governor Satya Pal Malik was transferred out of Goa and ahead of the Assembly elections due in February 2022, the coastal state has got a full-time governor with the appointment of P S Sreedharan Pillai. Pillai was serving as Governor of Mizoram before he was shifted to the coastal state.

Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari had been holding the additional charge of Goa after the then governor Malik was transferred within a year as governor of Meghalaya in August 2020.

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“Congratulations Shri P S Sreedharan Pillai ji, on his appointment as Governor of Goa. Looking forward to welcome him in our beautiful state,” Chief Minister Pramod Sawant tweeted.

Meanwhile, former Goa Speaker and BJP leader Rajendra Arlekar, who is appointed as Governor of Himachal Pradesh, told reporters that the BJP looks after ordinary workers of the party. Arlekar, 67, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed him about the new responsibility on Monday.

"On Tuesday, I was informed about my appointment as Himachal Pradesh governor by President Ram Nath Kovind. A notification has been issued," he said. Arlekar had served as the speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2015.

According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, these appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices.