Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya has been appointed as the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
Dattatreya replaces Kalraj Mishra, who had taken over the charge of Governor on 22 July from Acharya Devvrat and has been transferred to Rajasthan 40 days after taking charge.
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Dattatreya, a senior BJP leader from Secunderabad in Telegana, had joined Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in the 60s and he had served as BJP general secretary in Andhra Pradesh unit from 1982-1989.
He was elected as MP from Secunderabad in 1991 for the first time and he had won from the seat for five terms.
Though he was denied party ticket in 2019 Lok Sabha polls which seems to be the result of his implication in the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula who had killed himself on the campus of the University of Hyderabad in 2016 after alleging caste discrimination.
He was appointed as Union Minister of State in former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government after which he was appointed National Secretary of BJP.
It is worthwhile to mention here that the outdoing Governor Kalraj Mishra’s transfer within 40 days of taking charge had given rise to rumours in political circles, though no one had come forward to comment on the issue.
Mishra was appointed Union Minister in previous Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government and he was also the in-charge of Himachal BJP in 2010.