RN Kovind, Acharya Dev Vrat appointed as Bihar and Himachal Pradesh governors

Acharya Dev Vrat has been appointed the governor of Himachal Pradesh.

Ahead of Assembly elections in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday faced an angry crowd during an event in Delhi.

Mr Kovind, 69, served as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh for two terms from 1994-2000 and 2000-06.

Asked about his views on Himachal’s development scenario, Vrat said, “It’s one of country’s best rated states, having a good model of development”.

Vrat said some of the areas of focus in Himachal Pradesh would be to oversee its progress in the field of education, infrastructure development, industry, tourism, horticulture and above all maintaining a balance between the ecology and new development initiatives.

“As per the procedure, the central government through home ministry holds consultations with the state government, its chief minister on it (appointment of governor)…”

The appointment of Kovind, a lawyer by profession and a former chief of the BJP Dalit Morcha, could also send a signal to the Dalit community, which is being wooed by the saffron party in its effort to corner Kumar.

“The above appointments will take effect from the dates the incumbents assume charge of their respective offices”, a press communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Bhupendra Yadav, the BJP’s general secretary incharge of Bihar, said, “Nitish ji should not have a problem, considering Laluji is giving him a lot of trouble and he cannot even speak about it”.

Vrat, a close aide to Yoga guru Ramdev, has been serving as the principal of Gurukul Kurukshetra institution in Haryana since 1981 and is known to have a strong knowledge of Vedic culture.