Maharashtra governor comes under focus

With the sudden change in political scenario, the office of Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, has come under focus.

The way he invited BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, chose not to invite Congress and implement President's rule and the way it was revoked and Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in, his act has come under question.

The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress has alleged that Governor's office was misused.

Koshyari, the 77-year-old former BJP leader with deep roots in Sangh, was sworn in as Maharashtra governor on 6 September, days before the 14th Vidhan Sabha polls were announced.

An RSS veteran, Koshyari served as national vice president of BJP and party's 1st state president for Uttarakhand.

He also served as 2nd chief minister of Uttarakhand (formerly Uttaranchal) from 2001-2002 and thereafter, he was the leader of the opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from 2002-2003. He also has been a member of both Houses - serving as an MLA as well as MLC.

He later served as an MP in Rajya Sabha from 2008-2014 from Uttarakhand and then the MP in the 16th Lok Sabha from Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar constituency.

This has earned him the distinction of being elected in both Houses in state and Parliament.

He has had a successful career as a teacher and journalist. He had worked as a lecturer at Raja Inter College, Raja Ka Rampur, Etah district, Uttar Pradesh for few years. Koshyari is a founder and managing editor of Parvat Piyush, a weekly published from Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand since 1975. He has also published two books, Uttaranchal Pradesh Kyun? and Uttaranchal Sangharsh Evam Samadhan.

He had also been jailed during the Emergency.

The ever-smiling Koshyari always wears a dhoti-kurta and a black topi. He is a bachelor.