Harsh Vardhan congratulates 'Andhra Governor' Swaraj; later deletes tweet

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday congratulated BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on being appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.

Vardhan posted the greeting on Twitter. "Congratulations to senior BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj ji on being appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh," the Minister of Health and Family Welfare wrote.

[{abdf0b2c-a81f-4197-8156-5fed98e5e679:intradmin/D8tjskBWkAc4imG.png}]

He deleted the tweet later.

Social media users started congratulating Swaraj after the minister's tweet.

Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morch vice-president S G Suryah tweeted, "Smt. Sushma Swaraj has been appointed as new Andhra Pradesh Governor."

BJP has appointed several senior leaders as Governors of different states since it came to power in 2014.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, former Gujarat Chief Minister Anandi Ben Patel, Satyapal Malik, Ram Naik, former Cabinet Minister Najma Heptulla, senior Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders Lalji Tandon and Kesarinath Tripathi and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi are among the leaders who have been appointed as Governors during the past five years.

Earlier in the day, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan, who took the charge in June 2014, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.

Swaraj did not contest the Lok Sabha elections citing health reasons. She was appointed the External Affairs Minister in the first term of Modi government in 2014.

After BJP's landslide victory in the polls, Swaraj had thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving her respect and opportunity to work for the countrymen and NRIs in the last five years.

"Prime Minister - As External Affairs Minister, you have given me an opportunity to serve the countrymen and NRIs for five years and also personally given respect to me throughout the tenure. I am very grateful to you. I hope that our government successfully completes its full term," Swaraj had tweeted on May 30.

During her tenure, the BJP leader has been active and popular on Twitter reaching out to the Indian diaspora in distress for assistance.