Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a former Union home secretary, has been appointed as the Governor of Manipur, according to an announcement by Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. Bhalla, a 1984-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, will assume the role following Laxman Prasad Acharya, who had been holding additional charge of the state.
Bhalla concluded his tenure as Union home secretary in August this year, a position he held since August 2019. During his term, he served the longest tenure in the role, which is considered highly significant in the country’s bureaucratic hierarchy, second only to the cabinet secretary. Ajay Kumar Bhalla was succeeded by senior IAS officer Govind Mohan.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan also announced several other gubernatorial appointments. Former Army Chief General Vijay Kumar Singh (retd) has been appointed as the Governor of Mizoram. Singh, a former Union minister, represented Ghaziabad in the Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2024 but did not contest the 2024 elections.
In Bihar, Arif Mohammed Khan, the current Kerala Governor, will take over as the state’s new Governor. Khan, who became Kerala’s Governor in 2019, is known for his support of the Narendra Modi government’s ban on instant triple talaq and his resignation from the Rajiv Gandhi Cabinet in 1986 over the Shah Bano case.
Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, the outgoing Bihar Governor, has been appointed as the Governor of Kerala, replacing Khan.
Meanwhile, Hari Babu Kambhampati, who has been serving as the Governor of Mizoram, will take on the role of Governor of Odisha.
