NEW DELHI: Mr Virinder Verma MP of Janata Dal who was appointed Governor of Punjab will be sworn in later this week. He will be the state’s 24th governor and succeeds Mukharji who held the post for 6 months.
Verma hails from Western Uttar Pradesh and was in the erstwhile Lok Dal. A staunch follower of Late Charan Singh and is now regarded close to the Deputy PM Devi Lal.
In the lobbying for the new governor, former President Zail Singh also played a role.
Another strong choice was that of Gujral the foreign minister but that would have meant a parliamentary by election from Jalanhar in Punjab which the govt wanted to avoid.
Even Jaipal Reddy was considered for the office.
Verma in a public statement said his priority was to restore law and order and prepare the state for elections. He said he would not give any quarter to corruption in the state. He said he would be uncompromising against what he termed terrorism.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 15, 1990
