President Droupadi Murmu has accepted the resignation of Banwarilal Purohit as the Governor of Punjab and the administrator of Chandigarh.

The President also made the following appointments of Governors:       

• Senior BJP leader from Maharashtra Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde has been appointed the Governor of Rajasthan, succeeding Kalraj Mishra.

• Former Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura, Jishnu Dev Varma, will be the new Telangana governor.

• Veteran BJP leader Om Prakash Mathur will be the new Governor of Sikkim.

• Former Union Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar will be the new Jharkhand governor in place of C.P. Radhakrishnan.

• Former Lok Sabha member from Assam Ramen Deka has been appointed as the Governor of Chhattisgarh.

• C.H. Vijayashankar, the former Lok Sabha member from Mysore in Karnataka, will be Meghalaya governor.

• Jharkhand Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, who was also holding additional charge of Telangana, has been appointed as the new Governor of Maharashtra, succeeding incumbent Ramesh Bais.

• Gulab Chand Kataria has replaced Banwarilal Purohit as the Governor of Punjab and has also been appointed as administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

• Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Governor of Sikkim, appointed as Governor of Assam and has also been given additional charge of the Governor of Manipur.

• Former IAS officer K. Kailashnathan, one of the trusted aides of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been appointed as Lt Governor of Puducherry. Kailashnathan, chief principal secretary to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, stepped down on June 30 after holding the post for more than a decade after his retirement.

• These appointments will take effect from the dates they will assume charge of their respective offices.

The role of Governor

• The Governor is the chief executive of a state and his position is analogous to that of the President at the Centre. Despite being a nominal executive head (titular or constitutional head), the Governor has “a right to be consulted, to warn and encourage” and his role is overwhelmingly that of a “friend, philosopher and guide” to the council of ministers. 

• Under this role, he also functions as a sentinel of the Constitution and a live link with the Union.

• The Constitution, under Article 153, provides for a Governor for each state. However, the Article was amended by the Seventh Constitutional Amendment (1956), which came as a result of the State Reorganisation Commission and currently, the same person may be appointed as Governor of two or more states.

• According to Article 154, the executive power of the state shall be vested in the Governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution.

• Article 155 says that “the Governor of a state shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal”. 

• Article 156 provides that “the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President”. A Governor shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his/her office. 

• The Governor may, by writing under his/her hand addressed to the President, resign his/her office.

• The only qualifications for appointment as Governor are that he/she should be a citizen of India and must have completed the age of 35 years.

• The governor shall not be a member of the Legislature or Parliament; shall not hold any office of profit, shall be entitled to without payment of rent to the use of his official residences and shall also be entitled to such emoluments and allowances as may be determined by Parliament by law (Article 158).

• The Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor who also appoints other ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister (Article 164).

• The Governor appoints the Advocate General for the State (Article 165).

• Article 174 of the Constitution empowers the Governor to summon, prorogue or dissolve the House. Article 174(1) provides that the Governor shall from time to time summon the House to meet at such time and place as they think fit.

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