Bihar, Himachal get new governors

President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday appointed Ram Nath Kovind as governor of poll-bound Bihar and and Acharya Dev Vrat of Himachal Pradesh.

West Bengal Governor Kesri Nath Tripathi and Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh presently held additional charge of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh respectively.

Kovind, who hails from Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur and is a lawyer by profession, was the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Dalit Morcha and also a two-time Rajya Sabha member (1994-2006).Acharya Dev Vrat has been principal of Kurukshetra Gurukul since 1981. Besides being a post graduate in history and Hindi, he is a doctor in naturopathy and yogic sciences.

The appointments of Kovind and Dev Vrat will be effective from the date they take charge of their respective offices, the statement added.

The appointment of Kovind comes months before crucial assembly elections in Bihar where a keen tussle is expected between the BJP-led NDA and the ruling Janata-Dal-United and its allies.

Congress leader R.P.N. Singh on Saturday took a dig at the BJP over the appointment of governors.

"New governors appointed yet MP Governor (remember Vyapam) holds on to his job. Why this special treatment from BJP, what secrets does he know?" he said.

The Supreme Court had on July 9 issued notice to the central government, Madhya Pradesh government and Yadav on a plea challenging the Madhya Pradesh High Court order quashing an FIR against Yadav for his alleged involvement in the forest guard recruitment scam on the ground that he enjoyed immunity of the constitutional office he was occupying.

The governor's son Shailesh Yadav, an accused in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (or Vyapam) scam, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in March at his father's residence in Lucknow.

There was speculation that Yadav would be removed but no action has been taken yet.