Narayanan is Bengal Governor,Shivraj headed for Punjab

Setting in motion the process of bringing changes in the power structure within the PMO and the UPAs approach on internal security....

Setting in motion the process of bringing changes in the power structure within the PMO and the UPAs approach on internal security,the Centre on Saturday moved National Security Adviser M K Narayanan to West Bengal as Governor. In a late night communique,Rashtrapati Bhawan also announced four more new gubernatorial appointments that included former Home minister Shivraj Patil for Punjab,former ambassador to Saudi Arabia M O H Farook for Jharkhand,chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Urmila Singh for Himachal Pradesh and former defence secretary Shekhar Dutt for Chhattisgarh.

The Centre also reshuffled charges of three other Governors. Jharkhand Governor K Shankaranarayan was given the charge of Maharashtra,while Himachal Governor Prabha Rau heads for Rajasthan. Chhattisgarh Governor and former IB chief E S L Narasimhan,who had been given additional charge of Andhra Pradesh in the wake of N D Tiwaris resignation,was given full fledged charge of the state.

The appointments,that were long overdue,ended the lobbying for the constitutional posts for which prominent ex-bureaucrats and politicians had been trying hard. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are now expected to identify candidates for presidential nominations to the Rajya Sabha. The Congress core group had met on Friday to finalise the list of Governors.

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For Patil,the appointment means his rehabilitation after more than a year. Patil,who will also hold charge as Administrator of Chandigarh,had to lose his charge as Home minister in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. While Farooks appointment fulfils the Muslim quota,the appointment of Urmila Singh obviously has been done to address the tribal constituency.

According to sources,the Prime Minister first sounded out Narayanan for the gubernatorial appointment in West Bengal on January 9 by asking him if he was interested in a politically sensitive assignment in Kolkata. It is learnt that Narayanan politely declined and made it clear that he would rather stay in New Delhi and in the PMO. However,on Wednesday,the Prime Minister told him that the decision had been taken. The last straw was the violent flare-up over Telangana issue when Narayanan,who played a pivotal role in parleys with TRS leader Chandrasekhara Rao,failed to read the situation on the ground.

Narayanans name did not figure in the first working draft of the possible appointments to various Raj Bhawans,which was put up to the Congress Core group members last Wednesday. Veteran Congressman Sontosh Mohan Deb was the possible candidate for West Bengal Governor.

After the Prime Minister conveyed to Narayanan that he had no option,the name of Narayanan was circulated among the Core Group members on Thursday evening.

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The announcement of a successor to Narayanan,for which former foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon has emerged as the likely choice,is expected to be made in the next few days.