Three new Governors appointed, Satya Pal Malik transferred to J-K

Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik was today appointed as the Governor of the militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir, replacing N N Vohra who held the post for 10 years.

Lal Ji Tandon has been appointed as the Governor of Bihar, in place of Malik, while Satyadev Narayan Arya and Baby Rani Maurya will hold the gubernatorial posts in Haryana and Uttrakhand respectively, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman.

Malik, who was appointed as the Bihar governor in September last year, will take charge of Jammu and Kashmir at a time when it is under governor's rule.

The seventy-two-year-old will be the first career politician to be appointed as governor of the restive state after Karan Singh, who held the post from 1965 to 1967. Before this, Singh was Sadar-e-Riyasat after the state was annexed with Indian union.

Malik had served as the Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism and held many important positions in central and Uttar Pradesh state governments.

He was also a Rajya Sabha MP for two terms and a Lok Sabha MP from 1989 to 1990. Malik was also a Member of Uttar Pradesh Assembly from 1974 to 1977. In his political career, he has also been the Chairman and member of many parliamentary committees.

His appointment ends the over 10-year tenure of Vohra, who took over the reins of the state on June 25, 2008, at a difficult time when Jammu and Kashmir was facing the Amarnath agitation.

The militancy-hit state is at present under the Governor's rule after the BJP withdrew support from its alliance partner PDP in June this year.

Malik, who has been associated with Bhartiya Kranti Dal, Lok Dal, Congress and Janata Dal and the BJP during his political career, will be heading the administration of the state.

Eighty-three-year-old Tandon, BJP stalwart and a confidant of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was a key negotiator when the BJP formed government with Mayawati. He had to face criticism in the infamous sari distribution tragedy in 2004 that claimed lives of 21 women and a child.

The rally was organised on the birthday of Tandon was also aimed at garnering votes for Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the 2004 general elections.

BJP leader from Agra and member of Uttar Pardesh Juvenile Justice Board Baby Rani Maurya has been appointed as the Governor of Uttarakhand, where former Delhi Police Commissioner K K Paul completed his tenure.

Arya, an eight-term MLA in Bihar, was also a minister in the 2010 BJP-JDU government in the state. He has been appointed as new Haryana Governor.

Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki transferred to Tripura, replacing Tathagata Roy who has been transferred to Meghalaya, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.

Ganga Prasad, the Governor of Meghalaya, has been transferred to Sikkim, it said.