Ram Naik among 5 new Governors

Other names doing the rounds for the post of Governors are former Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon, former BJP leader from Kerala O Rajagopal and veteran party leader from Himachal Pradesh Shanta Kumar. Name of former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee is also being proposed

New Delhi: Names of five senior BJP leaders, including former Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, have been firmed up by the government for appointment as Governors in states, including Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat, highly placed sources said.

Former Uttar Pradesh Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi, senior BJP leader from Delhi V K Malhotra, former Bhopal MP Kailash Joshi and senior party leader from Punjab Balaram Das Tandon are said to be the other four persons whose names have been recommended for appointment as Governors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh are said to have discussed the issue two days ago and shortlisted the names.

Veteran BJP leader Naik said in Mumbai that the party leadership had approached him to accept the post of Governor of Uttar Pradesh, to which he agreed. Following the change of guard at the Centre and the new regime's pressure, five Governors have already resigned. They are B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), M K Narayanan (West Bengal), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland) and B V Wanchoo (Goa).

Two Governors - H R Bhardwaj (Karnataka) and Devanand Konwar (Tripura) - retired last month, while a few days ago, Lt Governor of Puducherry Virendra Kataria was sacked by the government.

A few other Governors appointed by the previous UPA regime, however, continue to remain in office despite the NDA government's pressure. They include K Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra), Sheila Dikshit (Kerala), Jaganath Pahadia (Haryana) and Shivraj V Patil (Punjab).

Kerala Governor Dikshit and Maharashtra Governor Sankaranarayanan too may be transferred to north-eastern states, the sources said.