Ex-IB chief appointed UP governor

The Centre today appointed former Intelligence Bureau chief TV Rajeshwar as governor of politically important Uttar Pradesh and senior Congress leader Nawal Kishore Sharma the governor of communally sensitive Gujarat ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), three days after the removal of four incumbents with a "different ideology".

Former Bihar Governor AR Kidwai was made governor of Haryana and former Nagaland Chief Minister SC Jamir was appointed governor of Goa by President APJ Abdul Kalam.

"The appointments will take effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices," a Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué said this evening.

The four posts fell vacant with the sacking of Vishnu Kant Shastri (UP), Kailashpati Mishra (Gujarat), Babu Parmanand (Harya-na) and Kidarnath Sahni (Goa) who had the RSS-BJP background and were nominated during the previous NDA regime.

Rajeshwar, who is in his late 70s and had headed the IBduring the days of late Indira Gandhi, takes the place of Shastri in UP. The state is considered significant in the backdrop of the recent Congress-Samajwadi Party spat over the law and order situation.

The Congress is supporting from outside the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in the state. Rajeshwar had also served as governor of Sikkim and West Bengal earlier.

The 79-year-old Sharma's entry into Gujarat raj bhavan has come at a time when Chief Minister Narendra Modi has become a target of attack from dissidents in the BJP and is caught in the midst of a furore caused by former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee's critical comments.