Sumitra Mahajan likely to be appointed Maharashtra gov

Mumbai: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who was denied a ticket in the Lok Sabha polls, is likely to be appointed as Maharashtra’s next governor. Ms Mahajan (76), who was born in Ratnagiri, had settled in Indore after marrying Jayant Maha-jan, a native of the city.

According to sources, the new governors of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu will be named soon. The tenure of Maharashtra governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao is coming to an end next month and Ms Mahajan is likely to replace him as the 19th governor of the state. If it happens, Ms Mahajan will become the first governor who was born in Maharashtra.

Ms Mahajan has represented the Indore Lok Sabha constituency as a BJP MP eight times, from 1989 to 2014. She was also a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. During the Narendra Modi government, she left her mark as a competent Lok Sabha Speaker. However, she was denied a ticket by the BJP in the recently held 2019 Lok Sabha polls as she had completed 75 years. Due to this, she herself had announced that she would not contest the Lok Sabha polls.

According to BJP sources, Ms Mahajan is one of the senior leaders of the party and though the party could use her vast experience in another capacity.