Honours in the Loyalty Programme

Vishnukant Shastri, who occupies the Raj Bhavan at Lucknow, is an RSS swyamsevak, whose association with the Sangh goes back to 1944, when it was still a nascent body. Staring off as an ABVP worker, the Kolkata-born Shastri work-ed his way up in the true sense. His loyalty, scholarship and humble disposition, not to mention his standing in the BJP, marked him out for high office.

A former head of the department of Hindi of Calcutta University, Shastri was elected to the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha in 1977. The five-year stint in the assembly established his public face. The BJP made him state president in 1982 and national vice-president in 1988, followed by Rajya Sabha membership in 1992.

A writer, critic and translator, Shastri has written essays, critiques and travelogues. Like all writers with political ambitions, Shastri is aware of what to write when: He has edited a collection of poems by Vajpayee, titled Amar Aag Hai.

Payoff time came for Shastri after Vajpayee became the PM. Shastri became governor of Himachal in 1999. When Suraj Bhan fell from grace, the Centre transferred Shastri to UP.