Union Minister Thawarchand Gehlot made Governor of Karnataka amid cabinet reshuffle buzz

Thawarchand Gehlot (File Pic)

President Ram Nath Kovind on July 6 appointed new Governors for eight states. While many governors were transferred to new states, others were new appointments.

The reshuffle of Governors comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expected cabinet expansion.  Among the new appointments, Union minister  Thaawarchand Gehlot is the new Governor of Karnataka.

READ: PM Narendra Modi's cabinet expansion soon; Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal among top contenders

Gehlot, a Rajya Sabha member, served as cabinet minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in the Modi government before the new posting. Prime Minister  Modi’s Union cabinet is expected to get a reshuffle with the addition of  new ministers on July 8.

Former Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal leaves for Delhi from Guwahati pic.twitter.com/MfezCxE22A

— ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2021

The expansion, first of the PM Modi's second term, is likely to factor in representation from the five poll-bound states and also the 2024 general election.

Top among the probables, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the Congress last year ahead of regime change in Madhya Pradesh, Sarbananda Sonowal, who was replaced by Himanta Biswa Sarma as Assam Chief Minister after the BJP won a second term in the northeastern state in May and former  Chief Minister of Maharshtra Narayan Rane were in Delhi on July 6 fueling the reshuffle buzz.

Among others, Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati is the new Governor of Mizoram. PS Sreedharan Pillai, the present Governor of Mizoram has been transferred to Goa and Satyadev Narayan Arya has been appointed as Governor of Tripura, a transfer from Haryana.

Also, read: Amid Cabinet expansion buzz, PM Narendra Modi's meeting with BJP chief JP Nadda, top ministers cancelled: Report

Tripura Governor Ramesh Bais has been transferred to Jharkhand while Bandaru Dattatraya, the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, will take over as Governor of Haryana.