Meet Gulab Chand Kataria, the recently appointed Governor of Punjab

Gulab Chand Kataria has taken the place of Banwarilal Purohit as the Governor of Punjab. Lakshman Prasad Acharya assumes the position of Mr Kataria as the Governor of Assam with the supplementary responsibility of Manipur. President Droupadi Murmu designated six new Governors and relocated three on Saturday night. 

Mr Kataria, 79, is a BJP old hand from Rajasthan.

Who is Gulab Chand Kataria?

1. Gulab Chand Kataria was born to the Hukmi Chand Kataria and the Lahari Bai on October 13, 1944. He acquired his Master’s degree in Geography from Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur. He also pursued Law at the same university. He is married to Anita Kataria. 

2. Mr Kataria is deeply grounded in the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. A BJP old hand, he holds significant influence in the Mewar-Wagad region in the south of Rajasthan. 

3. He has been in politics for over four decades. In 1977, Gulab Chand Kataria was first elected MLA from Udaipur on a Janata Party ticket. In 1980, he was re-elected as a BJP candidate. An eight-time Udaipur MLA, he also represented the constituency in 1989 in the Lok Sabha. 

4. Mr Kataria, who was the 31st Governor of Assam, has previously served as the Home Minister of Rajasthan and was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly.

5. Mr Kataria was charged by the CBI in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter killing but was acquitted by the court. The court stated that the proof against them was “inadequate”. Mr Kataria, who was the home minister of Rajasthan, was accused of being part of the plot to eliminate Sohrabuddin at the request of the marble lobby in the state.