Lucknow: President Pranab Mukherjee has accepted the resignation of Uttar Pradesh governor BL Joshi, an official said Wednesday. Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi has been given additional charge of Uttar Pradesh.
Joshi, a retired Indian Police Service officer, had assumed charge as the Uttar Pradesh governor in 2009. He put in his papers Tuesday after the Union Home Ministry sounded him on the subject.
The names doing the rounds include former Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon and former chief minister Kalyan Singh. They were persuaded not to contest the Lok Sabha election.
Many top veterans of the BJP are said to be in line to become governors.
The names doing the rounds include former Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon, former UP speaker Kesharinath Tripathi and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh. All these state leaders were persuaded not to contest the Lok Sabha elections and are likely to be gratified by new postings in Raj Bhavans.
While Lalji Tandon, after initial diffidence, had vacated his seat for party president Rajnath Singh, now union home minister, Tripathi was denied a ticket from Allahabad and assured "adjustment later on".
Kalyan Singh, who left the BJP twice and floated his own regional outfit returned to the party in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. A sitting MP from Etah, he was politely asked by Modi to make way for younger generation leaders and not to press for a second term.
He however was placated by being given a ticket for his son Rajveer Singh from Etah. He won. Kalyan is also likely to be made governor, sources said.
