Mishra likely to be Gujarat governor

The governors of Jammu and Kashmir (G.C. Saxena), Rajasthan (Anshuman Singh), Madhya Pradesh (Bhai Mahavir), Punjab (J.F.R. Jacob) and Himachal Pradesh (Suraj Bhan) are also due to complete their tenures soon. Though Bhai Mahavir and Suraj Bhan, happened to be senior BJP leaders, the Government, sources said, was disinclined to give an extension to them so that no one pressed for a second term.

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Hari Shankar Bhabhra, when sounded about the prospect of a governorship, had reportedly rejected the idea. Currently a dissident following the appointment of Vasundhara Raje as the Rajasthan BJP president, he was excluded by her from the state executive. Bhabhra had also taken on Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma after he declared Raje as the BJP’s choice for chief ministership even before the party high command’s announced it.

Supporters of Raje had retaliated by burning Bhabhra’s effigy , but the veteran remained firm. No matter, how much the leadership may wish him away before the polls late this year, Bhabhra was not willing to oblige.