Date:02/05/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/05/02/stories/2003050208831100.htm

National

List of governors sent to President

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 1. Ending weeks of waiting and speculation, the Government today sent to the President, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, a list of names for the posts of Governors to five States, for his assent. The term of the current Governors of Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, ended over the last month.

It is believed that Lt. Gen. (retd.) S. K. Sinha, now the Governor of Assam will replace Girish Chandra Saxena in Jammu and Kashmir. The senior BJP leader from Bihar and party functionary, Kailashpati Mishra, has confirmed that his name is in the list and that he is to replace the fellow partyman, Sundar Singh Bhandari, in Gujarat.

The other names on the list are the former U.P. Chief Minister, Ramprakash Gupta, and two former High Court judges, O. P. Verma and A. K. Kokji. Mr. Gupta, a BJP leader, is expected to replace Anshuman Singh in Rajasthan; Mr. Verma, who retired as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, has long been spoken of as the successor to the current Punjab Governor, J. F. Ribeiro. Mr. Kokji's name, by elimination, would suggest itself for Himachal Pradesh.