Ex-Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel appointed Madhya Pradesh Governor

76-year-old Patel was the Gujarat CM from 2014, when incumbent Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, to August 2016.

New Delhi: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel was on Friday appointed as the new Governor of Madhya Pradesh.

"The President of India is pleased to appoint Anandiben Patel to be the Governor of Madhya Pradesh, with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office," the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a tweet.

76-year-old Patel was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2014, when incumbent Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, to August, 2016, when she resigned the post.

Gujarat Governor O P Kohli was given the additional charge as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh in September 2016, when the tenure of incumbent Ram Naresh Yadav ended. 

Gujarat BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya described the appointment "as a matter of pride for Gujarat" and said that Patel was the first woman Governor from thje state.

"She is the daughter of a farmer, who went on to become the first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat and now the first woman Governor from the state. This indeed is a moment of pride for Gujarat," Pandya tweeted.

The post of Madhya Pradesh Governor was vacant and Gujarat Governor O.P. Kohli was assigned the charge till now.

Anandiben Patel had stepped down as Chief Minister in August 2016 citing overage as the reason. During the 2017 state assembly elections, she had refused to contest, and it was believed the BJP would assign her a larger role in politics.

She will be the second Gujarat Minister from the BJP to have been made a Governor. Earlier, Vajubhai Vala, a former BJP MLA from Gujarat, was made Governor of Karnataka.

Madhya Pradesh will see state assembly elections this year and Patel might have been assigned the role by the party high command keeping the forthcoming polls in mind.

(With Agency inputs)