The appointment of senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan as the new Governor of Telangana brings to an end the long era of Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, a man who endeared himself to the people of the two Telugu States.
Mr. Narasimhan set a record of sorts by continuing as the Governor of the erstwhile united State and at the helm of affairs in the two successor States even after bifurcation for over nine-and-a-half years. Mr. Narasimhan who was the Governor of neighbouring Chhattisgarh was given the additional charge of Telangana in December 2009 when the separate Statehood agitation was reaching its peak after the announcement on formation of separate Telangana by the then Union Minister P. Chidambaram.
He was made full time Governor soon and he displayed dexterity in dealing with the situation. He played a crucial role at the time of formation of separate State on June 2, 2014 and afterwards when he was made the Governor of the two successor Telugu States.
As a Governor, he took the initiative in convening the meetings of the two Chief Ministers — K. Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana and N. Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh — to resolve the pending issues between the two States.
Long association
The long time association he had with the erstwhile State as a student in Hyderabad in his tender years and working as an IPS official in some districts of the erstwhile AP helped Mr. Narasimhan to have an in-depth understanding of the problems faced by the people in the two States and his guidance to the two Chief Ministers helped them formulate their policies to effectively address these issues.
Mr. Narasimhan will be remembered for opening up the Raj Bhavan, a fortress hitherto, to the common people with whom he preferred to celebrate auspicious occasions. His focus was especially health, education and law and order situation.
The Governor is also credited to have given suggestions over the improvements that should be made in major temples like Tirumala and Yadadri for the convenience of the pilgrims.
