New Delhi: Governors of 10 states are retiring this year, four of them in July itself, and so senior BJP leaders have started lobbying for their piece of the pie.
Those retiring include governors of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and Rajasthan, namely C Vidyasagar, Ram Naik, OP Kohli, Vaijubhai Vala, Kesrinath Tripathi and Kalyan Singh.
Some of the governors have already started lobbying for another term and they include Rajasthan’s Kalyan Singh and Gujarat’s O P Kohli who paid a courtesy call on Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday.
Those in the reckoning include Dr MM Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan, Uma Bharti, former Himachal CM Shanta Kumar, Kalraj Mishra, Sushma Swaraj and former Uttarakhand CM Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
Former finance minister Arun Jaitley is believed to have already conveyed to PM Modi not to count him among those wanting to settle down in Raj Bhawans.
Though he won’t continue as the leader of House in the Rajya Sabha as the post has been given to Thawar Chand Gehlot, Jaitley wants to continue as a member of the Rajya Sabha, where his tenure is up to April 2024, that is full five years of the present govt.
