Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari departs from Mumbai's Raj Bhavan

After a tumultuous and controversial tenure of around three-and-a-half-years as the Maharashtra Governor, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, bid adieu to Maharashtra on Friday.

A veteran of Indian politics, Ramesh Bais - who had held gubernatorial responsibilities in Tripura and Jharkhand - would take over as Maharashtra Governor on Saturday coinciding with Maha Shivratri festivities and on the eve of birth anniversary of legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Also Read: No stranger to controversies, Governor Ramesh Bais has his task cut out in Maharashtra

Koshyari, a veteran politician with RSS-BJP background, assumed charge of Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on 5 September, 2019.

During this period, Koshyari (80) saw four governments and a brief President’s Rule in the state and a volatile political situation.

On his final day in office, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called on him and accorded him farewell.

Koshyari was given a ceremonial Guard of Honour by the contingent of Indian Navy during which Chief Secretary Manukumar Shrivastava, Director General of Police Rajnish Seth, Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, Additional Chief Secretary Protocol Manisha Mhaiskar and others were present.

The Governor proceeded to the Siddhi Vinayak Mandir at Prabhadevi on the way to the Mumbai airport and flew to Dehradun in a special aircraft.

When he took over, the BJP-Shiv Sena government headed by Fadnavis was in power in Maharashtra.

The October 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls threw up a fractured mandate and the Shiv Sena and BJP parted ways.

Fadnavis' tenure came to an end on 12 November, 2019.

Since no government could be formed, President’s Rule was imposed on 12-23 November, 2019.

Also Read: Maha Vikas Aghadi takes a dig at Koshyari after his resignation

On 23 November, 2019, the Governor sworn in Fadnavis and NCP’s Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively, but the government caved in within 80 hours.

Thereafter, on 28 November, 2019, Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as Chief Minister heading the Maha Vikas Aghadi government comprising Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Congress - which never enjoyed good relations with the Governor.

The MVA collapsed after Shinde rebelled against Thackeray and joined hands with BJP.

On 30 June, 2022, Koshyari sworn in Shinde and Fadnavis and Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively - a development which the MVA has claimed as illegal.

Koshyari had come under fire for several of his actions like hush-hush swearing in of Fadnavis-Pawar, the swearing in of Shinde-Fadnavis government and keeping the nominations of MLCs from Governor’s quota pending among others.

He had also come under criticism from MVA and various other social organisations for his statements on legends like Shivaji Maharaj, social reformer couple Mahatma Phule and Savatribai Phule.