Sahni to be new Guv, Fazal to Maharashtra

| 23 September 2002 22:31 IST

Mohammed Fazal, one of the longest serving Goa governor in the recent past, is likely to be posted as the governor of Maharashtra, filling the vacancy being created due to resignation of Dr P C Alexander in July.

Kedarnath Sahni, the governor of Sikkim, is expected to take over as the 11th governor of the Goa state. He will be otherwise 23rd in the line, with the former union territory having 13 Lieutenant Governors earlier.

The warrants of appointment in this regard are likely to signed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today evening, it is learnt. Official sources at the Raj Bhavan here however said the news could be confirmed only after the appointments are signed officially.

Dr Alexander had quit the post after his name was suddenly dropped from the presidential nomination. He was then elected the Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra.

Fazal took over in Goa on 26 November 1999, two days after yet another Congress government was toppled and the Congress rebels led by Francisco Sardinha, along with the Bharatiya Janata Party, formed a new coalition government.

Though he did not witness continuous topplings like his predecessors in the past, the BJP toppled its own coalition government in 11 months by inducting few more Congress rebels into the saffron camp. Fazal then swore in Manohar Parrikar as the Goa’s first BJP chief minister.

With the toppling games beginning in 1990 in Goa, the tiny state witnessed eight governors and 12 governments in nine years, till Fazal was appointed in 1999. Even Alexander was holding additional charge here from Maharashtra, for six months.

Unlike with the case of governors in the past, Fazal however enjoyed a cordial relation with Parrikar, who was once again sworn in on 3 June this year, following sudden dissolution of the Assembly on 27 February, paving way for fresh polls.

Sahni, the Sikkim governor, is considered to be the trusted man of the BJP. Besides being a chief metropolitan councillor and president of the Delhi BJP unit, he was also the RSS ‘pracharak’ and managing director of ‘Motherland’, the RSS mouthpiece.

Parrikar also claims to be the proud RSS 'swayamsevak', while there are allegations from the opposition that the BJP is saffronising each and every sphere of the tiny coastal state.

Drop a comment