Pratibha Rau to be third woman governor of Himachal

Shimla, Jul 18 (UNI) Ms Pratibha Rau, the new Himachal Pradesh Governor, was accorded a warm welcome on her arrival at Raj Bhawan here this evening.

She would take over as seventeenth regular Governor, replacing V S Kokje, whose five year term ended on May seven, earlier this year.

Ms Rau would be the seventeenth regular and third woman governor of the state since attainment of statehood in January 1971.

She was received at Raj Bhawan by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, his cabinet colleagues, former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, leader of the opposition in Vidhan sabha Vidya Stokes, MLAs, senior bureaucrats and police officers.

Mr Kokje, who was second governor of the state after the first Governor S Chakravarty to complete full term in Raj Bhawan, was given a warm send off on Wednesday.

She would be third woman governor of the state and second from state of Maharashtra.

Earlier, Ms Sheila Kaul and Ms V S Ramdevi served as governor of the state but both of them did not complete their term.

Former Maharashtra chief Minister Sudhakar Naik was other governor of the state from Maharashtra, who resigned after fourteen months to rejoin active politics.

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