New Delhi:

President Droupadi Murmu has appointed former Maharashtra Speaker and veteran BJP leader Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde as the new Governor of Rajasthan. Haribhau Bagde has replaced Kalraj Mishra whose tenure ended on July 21.

Speaking to reporters after being named as Rajasthan governor, Mr Bagde said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi called me yesterday informing me that I would have to go out of Maharashtra. He also asked me to not reveal it to anyone…I have been associated with the RSS since I was 12-13 and completed its three-year course. Till 1980 I was with the Jana Sangh. I like taking up challenges. I may have been chosen for this post because of my work in the party for so may years.”

Here are a few facts about Haribhau Bagde:

• Haribhau Bagde, fondly called Nana by his supporters, was born on August 17, 1945, in Phulamri taluka of then Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar). He was born into a poor farmer family. Mr Bagde sold newspapers for many years. He could attend school only up to Class 10.
• The 78-year-old has been associated with the RSS since his teenage years. The BJP gave him a ticket for the first time in 1985, and he was elected as an MLA from the Aurangabad East seat.
• When the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition came to power in 1995, Haribhau Bagde was appointed as the Minister for the Employment Guarantee Scheme.
• A five-time MLA, he won the 2014 Assembly elections against Kalyan Kale of the Congress from Phulambri. He again won the 2019 elections from the same constituency.
• When the BJP formed its first government in Maharashtra in 2014, Haribhau Bagde was appointed Speaker of the Assembly. He is the first Speaker in the state from BJP.