N.D. Tiwari is new Andhra Pradesh Governor

The Centre on Sunday announced a series of gubernatorial appointments, and named veteran Congress leader N.D. Tiwari, former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.

While the appointment of Mr Tiwari was welcomed, there was utter disappointment for senior Congress leaders from the State who were aspiring to be Governors. Following Sunday's appointment, no one from the State is a Governor anywhere.

Former minister M. Satyanarayana Rao, former chief minister N. Bhaskara Rao and former Union minister P. Upendra were among those who were eyeing gubernatorial posts. Ruling party sources said that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had recommended the names of Mr Satyanarayana Rao and Mr Upendra to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Chief Minister's camp expressed surprise over the exclusion of State Congress leaders from Sunday's list.

Mr Tiwari knows the nitty-gritty of AP politics. Mr Tiwari during the seventies and eighties had visited the State several times in different capacities in the party organisation. He was also responsible for the selection of candidates and was incharge of arranging funds for the candidates. Mr Tiwari has helped many State Congressmen including Dr Rajasekhar Reddy (then a leader of the Congress Legislature Party) who sought a power project in Uttaranchal for his kin while Mr Tiwari was the Chief Minister a few years ago. Mr Satyanarayana Rao and Mr Palvai Govardhan Reddy are said to be close friends of Mr Tiwari.

In other appointments, Orissa Governor Rameshwar Thakur, who was holding additional charge of Andhra Pradesh, has been named Governor of Karnataka. Mr Thakur succeeds Mr T.N. Chaturvedi, whose term expires on Monday.