Ram Naik sworn in as 27th Governor of Uttar Pradesh

Ram Naik on 22 July 2014 was sworn in as 27th Governor of Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow. He is a former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Maharashtra.

The oath of secrecy was administered by the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud.

Ram Naik succeeded B L Joshi who resigned from the post of Governor resigned in June 2014. Till the swearing in of Ram Naik, Governor of Uttarakhand Aziz Qureshi held the additional charge of Uttar Pradesh.

He was appointed as Governor of UP by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 14 July 2014.

About Ram Naik

• He was the Union Cabinet Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Ram in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government from 1999 to 2004.
• After the creation of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry in 1963, he holds the distinction of being the only minister to complete full five years as Petroleum and Natural gas minister in one government.
• He was responsible for introducing 5kg cylinders to the needs of families in lower income group in hilly regions as well as urban slums.
• He also introduced CNG in Delhi and Mumbai so as to reduce pollution emitted by diesel-run vehicles.
• As a Minister of State for Railways in 1998 under Vajpayee government, he got established the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporationfor providing facilities to 76 lakh commuters of the world’s most over-crowded suburban trains in Mumbai.
• He founded Goregaon Pravasi Sangh in 1964 for organizing suburban commuters in Mumbai.
• He was also responsible for starting Special Ladies Local Trains in Mumbai for the first time in world.
• He got elected as Member of Parliament successively for five terms from North Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency as BJP candidate.
• He created a new record for getting elected as BJP MP from Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency for eight times.
• He is a law graduate from Kishinchand Chellaram College in Mumbai.
• He wrote a book titled Saga of Struggles that narrates the case of rehabilitation of people affected from Tarapur Atomic Power Project III and IV. The book is translated version of his original Marathi bookGatha Sangharshachi.
• He was born on 16 April 1934 at Sangli in Maharashtra.

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Five states got new governors

Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ram Naik was on 14th July appointed as governor of Uttar Pradesh and party's veteran Delhi leader O P Kohli will move to Gujarat, in the first appointment of five governors by the Narendra Modi government.According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, Naik will take over in Uttar Pradesh after B L Joshi, perceived to be a close confidante of Gandhi family, was asked to tender his resignation. Joshi was the first governor who tendered his resignation after the Modi government came to power on June 17 this year.A three-time parliamentarian, 80-year-old Naik has the rare distinction of being the only minister who completed five years as petroleum and natural gas minister in one government.According to the communique, Keshari Nath Tripathi, a former Uttar Pradesh Speaker will take over in West Bengal, a post which had fallen vacant after the resignation of M K Narayanan after he was nudged to resign.A poet and author of books, Tripathi, who will turn 80 in November this year, was a five-time MLA and has written a few books like Commentary on "The Representation of the People Act, 1951" and two poetic books in Hindi - 'Manonukriti', 'Aayu Pankh'.In his student life, he went to jail in connection with the Kashmir Movement.Balram Das Tandon, 87, founder member of Jan Sangh in 1951, was appointed governor of Chhatisgarh after Shekhar Dutt tendered his resignation on June 18 after he too was sounded by the Union Home Ministry.Tandon was the deputy chief minister of Punjab in 1969 and later served as cabinet minister in Parkash Singh Badal's government. A six time MLA, Tandon was critical of Badal government's decision in 2012 of providing free electricity to state farmers.Padmanabha Acharya, a member of working group on north east region of BJP and co-convener of overseas friends of BJP, was appointed governor of Nagaland after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted resignation of Tripura governor Vakkom Purushothaman, who was also officiating as Nagaland governor.The President asked Acharaya to perform the duties of Tripura governor until regular arrangements are made, the communique said.A former chief of BJP's Delhi unit in 2009, Kohli has been associated with BJP since his student days and was president of its student wing — ABVP — and later became chief of Delhi University Teacher Association.

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