HYDERABAD: Even as Jammu and Kashmir’s incumbent governor N N Vohra was replaced after a decade-long tenure on Tuesday, governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ESL Narasimhan remains the Governor with the longest-serving tenure in the country. According to sources, the Centre is in no mood to shift Narasimhan till Assembly elections to both Telugu states are held in 2019.
Vohra, a former IAS officer, was appointed as governor of Jammu and Kashmir in June 2008, whereas Narasimhan, who was first appointed as governor of Chhattisgarh after his retirement as chief of Intelligence Bureau, was appointed as governor of Andhra Pradesh in December 2009 amid agitation for separate statehood.
Though speculation was rife regarding Narasimhan’s replacement after he finished his second term as governor of Andhra Pradesh while holding additional charge of Telangana, he has been continuing in the post for over a year since then now.
The Constitution mandates an incumbent governor to continue until a new governor takes charge, but the same has not happened in case of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh till now. Both NN Vohra and ESL Narasimhan were appointees of the previous UPA dispensation. Even as Narendra Modi-led NDA came to power in 2014, both the governors continued with their services.Following bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh in 2014, Narasimhan was given full additional charge of Telangana state too.