New Delhi, Oct 12 — President Droupadi Murmu on Monday appointed six Governors -- including reshuffling two incumbents -- assigning new responsibilities to senior political leaders and experienced public representatives across six states.
The appointments include four new Governors — Dr Sudha Yadav, Dhal Singh Bisen, Braj Mohan Ram, and Dushyant Kumar Gautam — while Om Prakash Mathur and Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar have been transferred from their existing gubernatorial assignments to new states.
The appointments have brought leaders with extensive political, organisational, legislative, and grassroots experience to constitutional positions.
Notably, of the six leaders appointed or given new gubernatorial responsibilities, three belong to Scheduled Caste communities and two to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), according to the profiles provided. The four newly-appointed Governors are senior BJP leaders who have served the party in various organisational capacities at the local, state and national levels for periods ranging from 25 to 45 years.
Under the reshuffle, Sikkim Governor Mathur has been appointed Kerala Governor while incumbent Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has been appointed Governor of Tamil Nadu.
Ram has been appointed Governor of Odisha, Dr Yadav Governor of Karnataka, Bisen Governor of Uttarakhand, and Gautam Governor of Sikkim.
Dr Sudha Yadav, an OBC leader belonging to the Yadav community of Haryana, brings a background of public service, political experience and academic distinction. She is the widow of BSF Deputy Commandant Sukhbir Singh Yadav, who was martyred during the Kargil War. Following her husband's death, she entered public life and went on to represent Mahendragarh in the Lok Sabha. She is also a member of the BJP Parliamentary Board.
Highly qualified academically, she holds an MSc and a PhD in Chemistry from IIT Roorkee. She served as a member of the National Commission for Backward Classes from 2019 to 2022. Her appointment recognises her contribution to public life, the OBC community and the sacrifice made by the families of personnel who laid down their lives in the service of the nation.
Gautam, a Dalit leader belonging to the Chamar community and hailing from Delhi, has spent nearly five decades in organisational work associated with the RSS and BJP, with a particular focus on advancing the interests of Scheduled Castes.
He has served as the BJP's national General Secretary and national President of the party's Scheduled Caste Morcha. Rising through the organisational ranks, he began his electoral journey as a councillor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and subsequently became a Rajya Sabha member. His appointment recognises his long-standing contribution to grassroots politics, party organisation and public life, as well as his work among Dalit communities.
Bisen, an OBC leader belonging to the Bhoyar Pawar community of Madhya Pradesh, brings decades of legislative and administrative experience to his new assignment. A four-time MLA and former Lok Sabha member from Balaghat, he has also served as a Cabinet Minister in the Madhya Pradesh government, handling important portfolios, including School Education, Forest, Transport,and Mines.
He also chaired the Fourth State Finance Commission of Madhya Pradesh. An Ayurveda practitioner by profession, Bisen has a keen interest in Indian systems of medicine and their convergence with modern medicine. His appointment recognises his nearly five decades of association with the BJP and his long record of public service.
Ram, a Dalit leader belonging to the Dhobi community and hailing from Jharkhand, comes from a farming family and has a long record of legislative and social service. He served as an MLA in undivided Bihar before being elected to the Lok Sabha from Palamu on three occasions — in 1996, 1998, and 1999.
Apart from his electoral career, he has served as the in-charge of the State Scheduled Caste Morcha and has been associated with the Dhobi Mahasangh. He has also worked towards establishing educational institutions in Chandwa. His appointment recognises his contribution to grassroots leadership, the empowerment of Dalit communities and decades of legislative and social work.