Former Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla appointed Manipur governor

Former union home secretary Ajay Bhalla was on Tuesday appointed governor of the strife-torn state of Manipur, according to a press communique issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Former union minister and ex-Army chief VK Singh has been appointed the governor of Mizoram. Arif Mohammad Khan has been appointed the governor of Bihar, the communique said.

Khan was governor of Kerala and has been replaced with Bihar governor Rajendra Arlekar in the southern state.

Bhalla, a 1984-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, was appointed Union Home Secretary in August 2019, the post on which he remained for five years till August 2024, after receiving four extensions.

Manipur has been without a regular governor since July 31 when Anusuiya Uikey left the post. Lakshman Prasad Acharya had been holding the additional charge of governor.

It was during Bhalla's tenure as union home secretary that ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May 2023.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignation of Raghubar Das as governor of Odisha.

Hari Babu Kambhampati, the governor of Mizoram, has been appointed the governor of Odisha.

The above appointments will take effect from the dates they will assume charge of their respective offices, the communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan said.