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Assam’s new guv a staunch supporter of separate Vidarbha
NAGPUR: It was a pleasant surprise for former Lok Sabha member and senior BJP leader Banwarilal Purohit when he received the news of his appointment as the governor of Assam from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on Wednesday afternoon.
The move surprised several in the political circles as Purohit (76) was sidelined by the BJP leadership of late.
This was despite an assurance by the then party president and now Union home minister Rajnath Singh that if the party comes to power at the Centre, he would be either given a Rajya Sabha seat or the post of governor.
The promise, however, was not honoured initially. Finally, the RSS leadership, particularly its chief Mohan Bhagwat, intervened and only then was Purohit’s appointment finalised.
As a student in Nagpur’s GS College of Commerce and Economics, studying for a degree in commerce from Nagpur University, Purohit wanted to join the political arena and took the plunge in 1977.
A staunch supporter of separate Vidarbha, Purohit won the election to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 1978 from Nagpur (east) assembly constituency with a handsome margin. He was re-elected to the state legislature in 1980 from Nagpur (south) assembly constituency.
His work drew everybody’s attention and earned him a berth in the state ministry in 1982, where he served as a minister of state for urban development, slum improvement and housing.
Purohit is also a three-time Lok Sabha member from Nagpur — twice as a Congress member, once as a BJP member.
But as he was denied a party ticket from Nagpur in 2014, the party assured him that he would be given either a Rajya Sabha seat or a governor’s post to compensate for it.
The Union minister for transport and shipping, Nitin Gadkari was nominated as party candidate, instead of Purohit from Nagpur in 2014.
A staunch supporter of statehood for Vidarbha, Purohit was instrumental in adopting the resolution in the BJP convention in Bhubaneswar in 1995 for a separate Vidarbha state.
He was seen in almost all agitations demanding separate Vidarbha, in Nagpur and the surrounding areas. A businessman-turned-politician, Purohit runs the multi-edition English daily, The Hitavada.