B L Joshi new UP Governor, Maragret Alva Uttarakhand Governor

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva and former Rajasthan Governor Jagannath Pahadia were among four new Governors appointed by the Centre tonight while B L Joshi was moved from Uttarakhand to politically sensitive Uttar Pradesh.

Another senior Congress leader Devendra Nath Dwivedi was appointed as Governor of Gujarat in place of Nawal Kishore Sharma who is demitting office on July 24.

Governor of Jharkhand Syed Sibtey Razi was moved to Assam while Nagaland Governor K Sankaranarayanan was shifted to Ranchi, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.

Both Razi (appointed Governor in December 2004) and Sankaranarayanan (appointed Governor in February 2007) will serve in Guwahati and Ranchi respectively for the rest of their tenures.

73-year-old Joshi, who was first appointed as Governor of Meghalaya in April 2007 before being moved to Uttarakhand, will serve his remaining tenure in Uttar Pradesh till 2012. He has also served as Lt Governor of Delhi for nearly three years.

67-year-old Alva will be the first woman Governor of Uttrakhand ater the state was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000.

Alva, who has had a long career in Parliament, had worked as a minister in governments headed by Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narisimha Rao. She was inducted into politics by her in-laws Jochim and Violet Alva -- the first Parliamentarian couple.