Former Home Secretary Bhalla is Governor of Manipur, Arif Khan goes to Bihar

The choice of Bhalla as Manipur Governor is significant as the Centre has been struggling to control the ethnic violence in the state for over one-and-a-half years.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan (left) has been reappointed as the Governor of Bihar while Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla is the new Governor of Manipur. (Express Archives)

Written by: Deeptiman Tiwary

4 min readNew DelhiDec 25, 2024 08:02 AM IST First published on: Dec 25, 2024 at 07:49 AM IST

The government on Tuesday announced new gubernatorial appointments, including former Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as Governor of Manipur and former Army Chief General V K Singh as Governor of Mizoram.

Among the other appointments by President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday are: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan as Governor of Bihar; Mizoram Governor Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati as Governor of Odisha; and Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as Governor of Kerala.

The choice of Bhalla as Manipur Governor is significant as the Centre has been struggling to control the ethnic violence in the state for over one-and-a-half years. Bhalla was Union Home Secretary when the violence began on May 3, 2023.

Despite the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces and Army personnel in significant numbers, violence between the Meitei and Kuki populations in the state has continued unabated. Bhalla, who retired in August this year, will be expected to use his experience as Union Home Secretary to check the violence and find a way to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table.

As Kerala Governor, former Congress leader Arif Mohammed Khan has had several run-ins with the CPI(M) government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. His move to Bihar is significant as the state is set to go to polls next year.

Express View | Governor Arif Mohammed Khan: Stooping low

Former Army Chief General V K Singh was a Minister of State (External Affairs, Road Transport and Highways, Civil Aviation) in the previous NDA government. However, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he was not given a BJP ticket.

His appointment as Mizoram Governor is significant as the NDA suffered a drubbing in the last Assembly polls. Mizoram is also closely associated with the ongoing turmoil in Manipur as its population identifies with the Chin-Kuki hill tribes of Manipur.

Former BJP MP from Andhra Pradesh Hari Babu Kambhampati was officiating as the Governor of Mizoram before being sent to Odisha.

In a related development, the President accepted the resignation of Raghubar Das as Governor of Odisha amid speculation that the former Jharkhand Chief Minister may make a comeback in active politics in his home state.

The BJP leadership’s continued trust in Kambhampati is in line with its tradition of rewarding party veterans, specially those who participated in the JP movement. In 1974-1975, Kambhapati participated in the Lok Sangharsh Samiti agitation under Jayaprakash Narayan. He was arrested under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during Emergency and imprisoned for six months.

After serving as office-bearer in the Janata Party and, subsequently, the BJP, Kambhampati was elected as MLA from Visakhapatnam- I constituency in 1999. In March 2014, he was elected as the president of the BJP’s Andhra unit.

Arlekar, who has been shifted from Bihar to Kerala as Governor, is an RSS veteran. He joined the BJP in 1989, and was an active member of the Goa BJP. When former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was brought to the Centre as the Union Defence Minister in 2014, Arlekar was in the running for the Chief Minister’s post, but the party finally picked Laxmikant Parsekar instead.

In July 2021, Arlekar was appointed Governor of Himachal Pradesh, after Bandaru Dattatreya was shifted from Himachal Pradesh to Haryana as Governor. Arlekar was later appointed Bihar Governor.