• President Droupadi Murmu appointed former Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as Governor of Manipur.

• Bhalla, who has the rare distinction of being the longest-serving Union Home Secretary, completed his five-year tenure in August this year. He is a 1984-batch retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya was holding the additional charge of Manipur.

• Former Army chief General (retd) Vijay Kumar Singh, who was also a minister in the last two terms of the Modi government, has been named the new Mizoram Governor.

• General (retd) Vijay Kumar Singh retired as Army chief in 2012 and joined the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election, which he successfully contested from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. He retained the Ghaziabad seat in 2019. Singh did not contest general elections this year.

• Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has been shifted to Bihar.

• Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has been named the new Governor of Kerala.

• Mizoram Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati has been appointed as new Odisha Governor. 

• President Murmu has also accepted the resignation of Odisha Governor Raghubar Das. 

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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