Assam: LP Acharya appointed as new Governor; Ramen Deka named as Chhattisgarh Governor

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Lakshman Prasad Acharya, the present Governor of Sikkim, has been appointed as the new Governor of Assam. He will be Assam’s 32nd Governor and will replace Gulab Chand Kataria. Acharya has also been given additional charge by the Governor of Manipur.

In a related development, a senior BJP leader and former MP from Assam, Ramen Deka, has been appointed as Governor of Chhattisgarh.

The new appointments and reshuffle of governors in several states were announced in a communiqué from Rashtrapati Bhawan dated July 27, 2024.

Meanwhile, the outgoing Governor of Assam, Gulab Chand Kataria, has been appointed Governor of Punjab and also Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

The above appointments will take effect on the dates they assume charge of their respective offices.

It should be mentioned here that Lakshman Prasad Acharya, who is known for his contributions to education and public service, is presently the 17th Governor of Sikkim. He was born on October 3, 1954, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. His parents were the late Kalidas Kharwar and the late Pyari Devi. He has two brothers, Shriram Prasad and Shitla Prasad, as well as one sister, Vindhvasini Verma.

Acharya started his career in his own hometown as a teacher in 1973 at Bhartiya Shishu Mandir in Ramnagar, Varanasi. On June 22, 1977, he initiated the Child Education in the Village campaign with the sole aim of establishing schools in the remotest villages of Uttar Pradesh. He established institutions of learning, such as Sishu Shiksha Niketan and Shri Kalidas Shiksha Sansthan Junior High School, in 33 far-flung locales like Baburi and Sakaldiha. His efforts extended to even more distant areas in Madhya Pradesh.

In 1990, Lakshman Prasad Acharya took his first steps into politics by becoming the divisional president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Ramnagar area of Varanasi. In 1995, he assumed the role of General Secretary for the combined district of Varanasi, which included Varanasi and Chandauli. In 1996, Acharya’s political journey led him to become the District President of the BJP for the Varanasi district and later Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Fisheries Development Corporation (UPFDC).

In 2015, Acharya was elected as a Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (MLC). He was re-elected for a second term as a MLC in 2021. He continued to represent the interests of the people in this capacity until his appointment as the Governor of Sikkim, a position he held until his appointment as the new Assam Governor.

Assam’s senior BJP leader, Ramen Deka, who has been appointed as Governor of Chhattisgarh, was born on March 1, 1954, in Sualkuchi in Kamrup district. He joined the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in 1974. When the BJP was formed in 1980, he was one of the founder members from Assam, from which point his political journey started. In 2006, he became the president of the state BJP. In 2009, he contested and won the Mangaldoi parliamentary seat and became a Member of Parliament. In 2014, he was re-elected from the same seat.

He is currently the vice chairman of the State Innovation and Transformation Aayog (SITA) of the Assam government.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma welcomed Ramen Deka’s appointment as Governor, posting on his X handle, “Many congratulations to the Vice Chairman of Assam’s State Innovation and Transformation Aayog (SITA) and my colleague in @BJP4Assam, Shri @ramendeka16, on being appointed as the Hon’ble Governor-designate of Chhattisgarh. He brings with him a diverse experience in public service.”

The CM also extended his best wishes to the new Assam Governor, posting on X, “Hon’ble Shri Laxman Acharya Ji has devoted his life empowering the poor. He has a rich organisational & legislative experience with an excellent tenure as the Governor of Sikkim. I am confident he will be an outstanding Governor for our State. My best wishes on his new assignment.”

Also Read: SITA vice chief Ramen Deka inaugurates Assam Japan Gateway (sentinelassam.com)

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