BJP’s Gulab Chand Kataria, the former home minister of Rajasthan and the current Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state assembly, will be the new governor of Assam, where he will succeed Jagdish Mukhi in the top post.
Kataria is among thirteen gubernatorial appointments announced by the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday; Rajasthan is among three states (Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh being the other two) that will go to polls in November-December, with these being the final assembly elections before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Also Read | Reshuffle and appointments: List of new governors set to take charge
Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar, whose term began in August last year, also comes from Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, speaking to news agency ANI, Kataria said he will work with ‘efficieny and without bias.’
Welcoming the appointment, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who leads the northeastern state’s BJP government, said the incoming governor’s ‘vast experience in public service will surely benefit Assam immensely.’
Also Read | Ramesh Bais new Maharashtra Governor as BS Koshyari exits
Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia also congratulated his soon-to-be former party colleague, as did former Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
Kataria, a 9-term MLA, served as the home minister of Rajasthan from 2004 to 2008, and 2013-2018, both times under the chief ministership of Vasundhara Raje Scindia, the saffron party’s tallest leader in the desert state.
Also Read | BD Mishra appointed as new lieutenant governor of Ladakh
Rajasthan is swing state, oscillating between the BJP and Congress. In the last few elections, it has voted out its sitting government, with the BJP suffering a defeat in December 2018. The Congress, however, is hoping to reverse the trend this year.
