Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday expressed his displeasure over “not being consulted on appointment of Acharya Dev Vrat as governor.”
“The Union government did not consult me. I was not in the state capital and got to know about the development after getting a call from Delhi. There is a precedence…the chief minister is consulted before such an important appointment,” Virbhadra Singh told Hindustan Times.
“Now when he has been appointed as the governor, we welcome him to the state,” said Virbhadra, who returned to Shimla after his two day tour to Rampur Bushahr. “Normally, the union home ministry consults the chief minister of the state concerned before the governor is appointed. They should have consulted me, though it’s a prerogative of the Central government,” said Virbhadra.
Dev Vrat, a close aide of yoga guru Ramdev, will be sworn in as the governor by Himachal Pradesh high court chief justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir on August 12. He will be the 27th governor of the state.
In poll-bound Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar has decried the appointment of Ram Nath Kovind as new governor. Nitish has dubbed the move of the Centre as an attempt to destabilise his government.
Dev Vrat will reach Shimla on Tuesday, said principal secretary to governor Sanjay Gupta . The governor-designate Dev Vrat on Sunday met senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Kangra Lok Sabha MP Shanta Kumar, in New Delhi.
{{/usCountry}}Dev Vrat will reach Shimla on Tuesday, said principal secretary to governor Sanjay Gupta . The governor-designate Dev Vrat on Sunday met senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Kangra Lok Sabha MP Shanta Kumar, in New Delhi.
{{/usCountry}}“Acharya Dev Vrat is a top academician. I welcome his appointment as the governor of Himachal Pradesh,” said Shanta after meeting Dev Vrat.
After Urmila Singh’s term expired on January 26, Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh was given the additional charge of Himachal Pradesh .
Kalyan Singh’s appointment had upset the state government in many ways. He had pulled up the government when the Youth Congress, led by chief minister’s son Vikramaditya, clashed with BJP supporters outside the saffron party’s BJP office in Shimla. As many as five persons were hurt in the clash and an office-bearer of the B JP reportedly lost his eye in the stone pelting. The controversial bill to regulate sports bodies in Himachal Pradesh is yet to get the governor’s assent.