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It's official: Narayanan is Bengal guv, Patil gets Punjab

Last updated on: January 16, 2010 23:46 IST

The much-awaited list of newly-appointed governors was formally released by the Rahstrapati Bhavan late on Saturday night.

Former Union home minister Shivraj Patil has been appointed the Governor of Punjab while National Security Advisor M K Narayanan has been appointed the Governor of West Bengal.

Narayanan, 75, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, moves to the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata after a five-year stint as NSA, which creates a vacancy in the NSA's post, for which former Foreign Secretaries Shyam Saran and Shivshankar Menon are believed to be the front-runners.

Shivraj Patil, who had to resign as the Union home minister in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack in November, 2008, has been appointed Governor of Punjab and given the additional charge as administrator of the union territory of Chandigarh, a communique issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan late on Saturday night said.

Jharkhand Governor K Sankarnarayanan was shifted to Maharashtra to replace former Nagaland chief minister S C Jamir and senior Congress leader M O H Farook will be the new Governor of Jharkhand.

Farook is the former chief minister of Pondicherry and a union minister in the government of P V Narasimha Rao. Sankaranarayanan will serve the remainder of his term in Maharashtra, the communique said.

Former Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt was appointed Governor of Chhattisgarh, from where E S L Narasimhan moves to Andhra Pradesh Raj Bhavan, to succeed N D Tiwari who quit in the wake of a sting operation by a TV channel purportedly showing him in compromising position with women.

Narasimhan, also a former IB chief, will also serve the remainder of his term in Andhra Pradesh.

Senior Congress leader Urmila Singh will be the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh from where Prabha Rau was transferred to head the Raj Bhavan in Rajasthan, where she will serve the remainder of her term.

The appointment of the Governors will take effect from the dates they assume their duties, the communique said. The names of the Governors were cleared at a meeting between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday.

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