Punjab to get ‘regular’ Guv after reshuffle

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 30

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been criticised for failing to appoint a regular full-time Governor of Punjab, is expected to take a decision on the issue soon after the expansion-cum-reshuffle of his Council of Ministers.

“Since the state elections are due early next year, Punjab will get a full-time Governor. Indications are that a decision on the name will be taken immediately after the reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers,” said a senior official in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

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He indicated that Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, who holds the additional charge of Punjab and also acts as the Administrator of Union Territory of Chandigarh, may be named as the regular Governor of the state. 

“A few old ministers who have crossed the threshold age limit of 75 may be dropped and accommodated as Governors,” he said. Haryana would get a new face as its Governor.

Punjab’s last full-time Governor Shivraj Patil relinquished charge on January 21 and Solanki assumed additional charge the following day.