Prabha Rau to be the third woman guv of HP

Shimla, Jul 9 (UNI) Prabha Rau, the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh, will be the 17th regular and third woman governor of the state since 1971.

She would replace Mr V S Kokje, who was continuing in office after completion of five-years term on May seven.

Mr Kokje, who was appointed Governor of the state on May eight, 2003, succeeding Suraj Bhan, is the second person after first Governor S Chakravarty to complete full term in Raj Bhawan.

Mr Chakravarti held the office of governor for more than six years from January 25, 1971 to February 16, 1977 and was replaced by A A Khan, who was transferred as Governor of Punjab in August 1981.

Mr Ashok Nath Banerjee, who succeeded Khan, was also transferred to Karnataka in the mid term and Hoksie Sema replaced him.

Mr Sema also resigned to rejoin active politics and R K S Gandhi was appointed governor in his place in March 1986.

After the change of guards at the centre in 1989, Mr Gandhi resigned in February 1990 and Janta Dal leader Varinder Verma took over as Governor.

His term was also cut short as he was forced to resign after the dismissal of BJP government in December 1992.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Bali Ram Bhagat replaced Verma in February 1993 but his term lasted just over four months and Gulsher Ahmed was appointed new governor on June 30, 1993.

Mr Ahmed was indicted by the Election Commission for electioneering for his son in Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and he tendered his resignation after adorning Raj Bhawan for about five months.

The then Punjab Governor, Surrender Nath, was appointed Governor in November 1993 but he died in air crash on July 7, 1994 along with seven other family members and his term abruptly ended.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sudhakar Nair was appointed the next governor on July 30,1994 but resigned after 14 months to rejoin active politics and was replaced by Sheila Kaul, who took over on November 17,1995.

She also made an unceremonious exit in the wake of her indictment by court in a land case on April 22, 1996.

She was succeeded by another woman governor, V S Ramadevi in July 1997 but she was also transferred in the mid term in December 1999.

Mr Vishnu Kant Shashtri was appointed Governor in her place in December 1999 and was shifted to Uttar Pradesh in November 2000 in place of Suraj Bhan who was sent to Himachal.

Mr Bhan demitted office after completing his remaining term on May 7, 2003 when the present Governor took over the next day.

UNI AS HS ARB AS1943