President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday, 6 July, appointed Thawarchand Gehlot as the governor of Karnataka and Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel as the governor of Madhya Pradesh, while Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatraya has been transferred and appointed governor of Haryana.
The other appointments made by the President include Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as governor of Himachal Pradesh, PS Sreedharan Pillai as governor of Goa (transferred from Mizoram), Satyadev Narayan Arya as governor of Tripura (transferred from Haryana), Ramesh Bais as governor of Jharkhand (transferred from Tripura), and Hari Babu Kambhampati as governor of Mizoram.
The appointments come amid the buzz over a Cabinet reshuffle by the Modi government. Notably, Thawarchand Gehlot was serving as the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
"President Kovind and PM Modi have shown faith in me and have appointed me as the Karnataka Governor. I'll live up to their expectation and do my job faithfully. I'll try to resolve the issues within Constitutional limits and with discussions," Gehlot told news agency ANI after the announcement, adding that he would be submitting his resignation from positions of Rajya Sabha MP and Union minister on Wednesday in person.
He was also the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha and member of high-profile Parliamentary Board of the BJP, which will now be left vacant.
Scindia, Sonowal, Sushil Modi: Buzz Over PM Modi's Cabinet Expansion Grows
As the buzz over the expansion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet grows amid several high-profile leaders from across states reaching Delhi, many new faces are likely to be inducted in the Cabinet, sources told The Quint.
According to sources cited by ANI, the reshuffle is likely to take place on 8 July.
A few of the prominent names doing the rounds are those of former Congress leader and now BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi.
Speaking to ANI, Union Minister Rajnath Singh earlier on Tuesday, 6 July, refused to comment on the possible expansion saying: "I cannot comment on it for now."
The Cabinet currently has 53 members, but can have up to 81.
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