President approves fresh gubernatorial appointments and transfers across several states
In a reshuffle of gubernatorial positions, President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Kavinder Gupta as the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh, while the current Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla has been shifted to Telangana.
According to a press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kavinder Gupta, who has recently served as Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, will now take charge as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh. Shukla, who had been serving as the Governor of the hill state, has been appointed as the Governor of Telangana.
Gupta was sworn in as the third Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh on July 18, 2025, and served in the position for less than eight months before receiving the new assignment. He has had a long political career and has held several key positions in Jammu and Kashmir.
He began his political journey in 1978 as secretary of the Punjab unit of the student wing associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 1993, he became the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. Gupta later served as Mayor of the Jammu Municipal Corporation in 2005.
He was elected Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in 2015 and later served as Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018.
After being entrusted with the responsibility of Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Gupta expressed gratitude to the national leadership, thanking the President, Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister for the appointment.
The President has also approved several other appointments and transfers of governors. Vishnu Dev Varma, Governor of Telangana, has been appointed as the Governor of Maharashtra. Senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav from Bihar has been appointed Governor of Nagaland.
Retired army officer Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, has been appointed as the Governor of Bihar. He will replace Arif Mohammad Khan.
