Anandiben in race to become Governor of Andhra

E.S.L. Narasimhan, Governor for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, would soon be replaced by two new Governors—D.H. Shankara Murthy for Telangana and Anandiben Patel for Andhra Pradesh, according to reliable sources. The appointments might take place any time after the completion of the election of Vice-President.

An indication to this effect was already made by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to the Chief Ministers of both the states—Chandrababu Naidu (AP) and K. Chandrasekhar Rao (Telangana) when they were in New Delhi to attend the swearing-in of President Ram Nath Kovind this week, according to sources close to KCR.

Shankara Murthy, 76, a senior BJP leader and chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council, would be sent to Telangana, while 75-year-old Anandiben Patel was the Chief Minister of Gujarat for two years till August 2016. Both are staunch BJP leaders with strong RSS connections.

The AP government hasn’t yet readied a residence to the Governor; so the new appointee will have to work from a makeshift home, sources in the government said. CM Naidu has recently approved designs for construction of a permanent Raj Bhavan in Amaravati and the building would be ready only by the end of 2018. Till then, the government will have to search for a temporary Raj Bhavan for the new governor.