MHA recommends names for Maha, Raj, Karna, Goa governors

New Delhi, Aug 25: Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Goa are likely to have new Governors soon with the Home Ministry recommending names to the President for appointment to the posts.

Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh, veteran BJP leaders V K Malhotra and Lalji Tandon are among the few probables who may be appointed as the Governors of the four states. Four names have been recommended for appointment as Governor, official sources said. However, it is not clear when the official announcement of appointment of the four will be made by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

On August 11, Kalyan Singh had claimed that he was offered the post of Governor of Rajasthan and he has accepted the position "happily". Maharashtra Governor's post fell vacant yesterday when incumbent K Sankaranarayanan resigned after he was transferred to Mizoram.

Post of the Governor of Karnataka has remained vacant since July end when former Law Minister H R Bhardwaj had completed his five year tenure while the post of Rajasthan Governor fell vacant after Margaret Alva completed her tenure early this month. Goa Governor's post fell vacant when former SPG chief B V Wanchoo resigned last month.

Earlier, the NDA government had sacked Mizoram Governor Kamla Beniwal, who had served in Gujarat earlier and had a running battle with Narendra Modi when he was the state's Chief Minister. Virendra Kataria, a former Congress leader, was also sacked as Puducherry Lieutenant Governor last month.

Five other Governors -- M K Narayanan (West Bengal), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland), B L Joshi (UP), B V Wanchoo (Goa) and Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh) had put in their papers apparently after they were telephoned by the Union Home Secretary.

Veteran Congress leader Jagannath Pahadia has completed his tenure as Governor of Haryana last year. Uttrakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi has challenged Modi government's moves to ease him out of office, bringing the controversy over removal of UPA-appointed Governors under judicial lens. The NDA government has so far appointed six Governors - Ram Naik (Uttar Pradesh), Keshari Nath Tripathi (West Bengal), Om Prakash Kohli (Gujarat), Balram Ji Das Tandan (Chhattisgarh), Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya (Nagaland) and Kaptan Singh Solanki (Haryana).

PTI