M A I N   N E W S

Qureshi appointed U’khand Governor
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 28
The Congress-led UPA combine tonight appointed two new Governors, shifted one from Uttarakhand to Rajasthan and gave a second term to serving Governors of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. President Pratibha Devisingh Patil issued a notification here tonight.

One of the new appointees is BV Wanchoo, former head of the Special Protection Group (SPG) that guards the Prime Minister. He has been appointed Governor of Goa.

Sources said former SPG boss Wanchoo’s new assignment was expected. He retired in October last year.

Wanchoo, a 1976 batch West Bengal cadre IPS officer, has served in the Intelligence Bureau before he was appointed SPG chief in 2005. Following his retirement, it was believed that he would be appointed Adviser to the PM on internal security.

The other new appointee is Dr Aziz Qureshi. He is considered close to Congress leader Digvijay Singh. He has been appointed Governor of Uttarakhand replacing Margaret Alva who has been shifted to Rajasthan.

Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil holding additional charge of Rajasthan has been relieved of it.

Dr Qureshi belongs to Madhya Pradesh and at one time was being considered for a Rajya Sabha nomination from the state.

ESL Narasimhan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, has been given a fresh term. Narisimhan is former director of the Intelligence Bureau and has briefly served as Governor of Chhattisgarh. K Sankaranarayanan, Governor of Maharashtra has also been given a second term, the presidential notification said.

After these appointments, the Governor’s post is vacant in Kerala, where Karnataka Governor holds the additional charge. The tenure of existing Governors in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh as well as that of Lt Governor of Delhi comes to an end later this month. Sources said another round of appointments was expected.

The Congress party core group earlier met and reportedly discussed possible names for gubernatorial assignments. These included former Railway Minister CK Jaffer Sharief, former Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Srinivas Tiwari and Congress general secretary RK Dhawan, who was Indira Gandhi's personal secretary. The names of former Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla and former Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Phool Chand Mullana were also doing the rounds in the national capital.

other changes

• SPG ex-boss Wanchoo is Goa Guv
• Alva shifted from U’khand to Rajasthan
• AP, Maharashtra Guvs get second term