Banwarilal Purohit

Banwarilal Purohit (born April 16, 1940) is an Indian politician from Vidarbha region. He was appointed as Governor of Assam State by President of India on 17 August 2016.^[2] He was a Member of Parliament from the Nagpur (Lok Sabha constituency) three times, twice as an Indian National Congress member, once as a BJP member.^[3][4]

Political Career

He joined the All India Forward Bloc in 1977 and was elected as MLA from Nagpur East constituency in 1978 and was re-elected in 1980 from Nagpur South and became a Minister of State for Urban Development, Slum Improvement and Housingin in 1982.

In 1984, he was elected to the 8th Lok Sabha as member of Congress Party.^[5] He was re-elected in 1989 on Congress ticket.

Later he joined Bharatiya Janata Party when it launched a movement to build Ram Temple in Ayodhya and contested Lok Sabha elections in 1991 as the party's candidate. But he lost to Datta Meghe of Indian National Congress. In 1996, he was elected to 11th Lok Sabha as BJP's candidate.

In 1999, he quit the Bharatiya Janata Party to join the Indian National Congress after he developed serious differences with Pramod Mahajan. He contested the Lok Sabha elections from Ramtek in 1999 but lost.

In 2003, he launched his own party called Vidarbha Rajya Party and contested the Lok Sabha elections from Nagpur in 2004.

In 2009 he again contested on BJP's ticket but lost the election to Vilas Muttemwar of Indian National Congress.

Governorship

In August 2016, Purohit was appointed as Governor of Assam by replacing Padmanabha Acharya who had additional in-charge of Assam.^[6][7][8]

Personal Life

Purohit gained ownership of the Nagpur daily newspaper The Hitavada from Servants of India Society in 1979. The newspaper was launch by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1911 and Purohit is its current managing editor. He is also the chairman of Governing Body of Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management in Nagpur.

Notes

1. ↑ http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/najma-heptulla-mukhi-appointed-governors-116081700886_1.html
2. ↑ https://www.google.co.in/amp/indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/four-states-to-get-new-governors-najma-heptullah-to-serve-in-manipur-2980823/lite/?client=safari
3. ↑ Former Cong leader who claimed he arranged meeting between Rajiv & RSS
4. ↑ BJP leader Purohit is new governor of Assam
5. ↑ "Election Analysis 1977-1984, Partywise Comparison". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2010-01-14. 
6. ↑ Banwarilal Purohit sworn in as Assam governor
7. ↑ Purohit sworn in as Assam governor
8. ↑ Banwarilal Purohit takes oath as Governor of Assam