Banwarilal Purohit (born 16 April 1940) is an Indian politician who is the current and 29th Governor of Punjab, India and Administrator of Chandigarh as of 29 August 2021. He was the former

Governor of Tamil Nadu The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at central level. They exist in the state appointed by t ...

from 2017 to 2021, and former

Governor of Assam This is a list of governors of Assam, and other offices of similar scope, from the start of British occupation of the area in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Governor of Assam is a nominal head and representative of the President ...

from 2016 to 2017. He is a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

. He was a Member of Parliament from the

Nagpur (Lok Sabha constituency) Nagpur Lok Sabha seat is one of the 48 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies of Maharashtra state in western India. This constituency is spread over Nagpur city and some part of Nagpur district. Vidhan Sabha segments Presently, Nagpur Lok S ...

three times, twice as an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

member, once as a

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

member.

Political career

Later he joined Congress. After

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

split the Congress Party and formed Congress (Indira), Purohit was elected as MLA from Nagpur East constituency in 1978, contesting as member of Congress(I), and he was re-elected in 1980 from Nagpur South and became a Minister of State for Urban Development, Slum Improvement and Housing in 1982. In 1984, he was elected to the 8th Lok Sabha as member of Congress Party. He was re-elected in 1989 on Congress ticket. Later he joined the

when it launched a movement to build Ram Temple in

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...

and contested Lok Sabha elections in 1991 as the BJP candidate. But he lost to Datta Meghe of

. In 1996, he was elected to 11th Lok Sabha as BJP's candidate. In 1999, he quit the

to join the

after he developed serious differences with

Pramod Mahajan Pramod Vyankatesh Mahajan (30 October 1949 – 3 May 2006) was an Indian politician from Maharashtra. A second-generation leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he belonged to a group of relatively young " technocratic" leaders. At the time ...

. He contested the Lok Sabha elections from Ramtek in 1999 but lost. In 2003, he launched his own party called Vidarbha Rajya Party and contested the Lok Sabha elections from Nagpur in 2004 but lost. Later on, he again joined the BJP. In 2009, he again contested on BJP's ticket but lost the election to

Vilas Muttemwar Vilas Bhaurao Muttemwar (born 22 March 1949) is a former Minister of India. He represented the Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency of Maharashtra in 14th Lok Sabha and is a member of the Indian National Congress. He is former Minister of State (Ind ...

Governorship

In August 2016, Purohit was appointed

by replacing

Padmanabha Acharya Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya (born 8 October 1931) is an Indian politician who was the Governor of Manipur, from 27 June 2019 to 23 July 2019 and Governor of Nagaland, from 19 July 2014 to 31 July 2019, also Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, ...

who had additional in-charge of Assam. On 30 September 2017 he was appointed

by President

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...

. It was the first time that the state has got a full time governor after K Rosaiah retired in August 2016. On August 27, 2021 President of India Shri

appointed Governor Purohit as a Governor of Punjab (Additional Charge) and Administrator of Chandigarh (Additional Charge). On September 9, 2021 President of India Shri

appointed Governor Purohit as a 29th Governor of Punjab.

Other career

Purohit gained ownership of the Nagpur daily newspaper

The Hitavada ''The Hitavada'' is an English daily newspaper circulating mainly in Central parts of India. Founded in 1911 by freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale in Nagpur, the newspaper was taken over by Purohit and Company, owned by Banwarilal Purohit, th ...

from

Servants of India Society The Servants of India Society was formed in Pune, Maharashtra, on June 12, 1905 by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who left the Deccan Education Society to form this association. Along with him were a small group of educated Indians, as Natesh Appaji Dra ...

in 1979. The newspaper was launched by

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( �ɡoːpaːl ˈkrɪʂɳə ˈɡoːkʰleː9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was an Indian 'moderate' political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement. Gokhale was a senior leader of the India ...

in 1911 and Purohit is its current managing editor. He is also the chairman of Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management in

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

Early life

His father's name is Bhagwandas Purohit, he is married to Pushpa Devi Purohit, and he has three children. Two sons Rajendra Purohit and Rakesh Purohit, daughter Meena Purohit Joshi. He has six grandchildren and a great grandson. His eldest granddaughter, Archana Purohit Agrawal is present CEO of eYantra Industries, Hyderabad. He is also the chairman of Bhavans Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir Nagpur. He is the chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools founded by late

Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (; 30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, ...

in 1938.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/marketing/eyantra-acquires-digital-marketing-agency-digital-ozone/82292182 {{DEFAULTSORT:Purohit, Banwarilal India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1996–1997 People from Jhunjhunu district All India Forward Bloc politicians Indian National Congress politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra Living people Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Governors of Assam 1939 births Governors of Tamil Nadu Politicians from Nagpur