Team Herald
PANJIM: Former Goa Assembly Speaker and former minister Rajendra Arlekar became the third Goan to be appointed as Governor of a State, as he now head to Himachal Pradesh to take over the gubernatorial reins.
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Anthony Lancelot Dias, also known as A L Dias hailing from Assagao, Bardez, was the first Goan to be so appointed, first as Lieutenant Governor of Tripura in 1969-1971 and then as Governor of West Bengal from 1971 to 1977.
Former Chief of Army Staff, Gen Sunith Francis Rodrigues, was the second Goan having been the Governor of Punjab from 2004 to 2010. Arlekar is therefore the third Goan to be a Governor.
However, Arlekar and Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant appeared to be unaware of Goans occupying gubernatorial posts in the past and stated that Arlekar was the first Goan appointed as Governor of a State.
Governor-designate Arlekar, who was in Panjim to participate in the programme to mark the birth anniversary of party’s icon Syama Prasad Mukherjee, said that nobody from Goa had become a Governor so far and that he is happy to be the first one.
Arlekar said his appointment as Governor has established that a common worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a cadre-based party, can scale high positions in the country.
“Our leadership has shown trust in the ground workers. I owe this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, President of India and BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh. The Goans are capable of holding any position in the country,” he said.
Arlekar added, “I started as party worker, MLA, Speaker, Cabinet Minister and BJP State president. Now I will be the Governor. It shows importance of leaders and leadership of BJP. Party leaders trusted me. President, Prime Minister, Home Minister and BJP president trusted me. It’s a party that trusts,” he said.
Arlekar also said that President Ramnath Kovind spoke to him after his appointment and asked him to move to Himachal Pradesh at the earliest. He said he will soon go to Himachal and assume the charge of office.
In his political career, 67-year-old Arlekar held various positions such as South Goa District BJP president, State secretary, general secretary, president, MLA on two occasions in 2002-2007 and 2012-2017, national executive committee member and spokesman of the party.
