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Centre to replace Goa, Mizoram governors, more changes in offing

In its first major decision, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government at the Centre has decided to review the appointment of Goa and Mizoram governors by the I K Gujral government on the eve of the general election.

The review meant that the government can cancel the appointments of Satish Chandra as Goa governor and Arun Prasad Mukherjee in Mizoram since both were appointed by the ''caretaker government'' headed by Gujral in January.

The government will also take a decision in ''a day or two'' on the appointments of governors of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Home Minister Lal Kishinchand Advani told newspersons after the Bharat Ratna and government awards investiture ceremony on Sunday.

On the reported move to change the lieutenant governor of Delhi, Advani hinted that the decision may be deferred, as the government was at present considering only changing governors.

According to highly placed sources in the home ministry, the government also plans to shift some governors who are ''suspected to have misused their office at the behest of political parties.''

The home minister had prepared a list and sent it to the prime minister's office for clearance. ''Normally, we do not recommend names. We simply forward a list to the PMO which is the final authority,'' the sources said.

However, the sources said former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Suraj Bhan's name has been finalised for the UP governorship.

UNI

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