Sushma clarifies rumors on Andhra Pradesh governor post

The ongoing buzz about former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj being appointed as Andhra Pradesh governor on Monday reached new heights after Union Minister Harsh Vardhan tweeted a congratulatory message to the senior BJP leader, which he deleted later. Swaraj also issued a clarification and denied the rumors.

The news about my appointment as Governor of Andhra Pradesh is not true, Swaraj tweeted late night.

She also said, "I called on the Vice President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu ji on demitting office as Minister of External affairs. This was enough for Twitter to appoint me as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh."

There was no official announcement till late night about such an appointment. There has been speculation about her appointment in Telugu media for the past few days.

When asked about the reports and whether President Ram Nath Kovind has cleared the appointment, the President's Press Secretary Ashok Malik told DH that he has no such information.

In his tweet, which was later, deleted, Vardhan said, "congratulations to Sushma Swaraj, BJP's senior leader, my elder sister and former External Affairs Minister for becoming the Andhra Pradesh Governor. Let you experience in various fields be of help to the people."

However, within minutes, he deleted it. The minister could not be contacted for his comments on why he deleted the tweet.

For the past 10 years, E S L Narasimhan, a former Intelligence Bureau Director, is the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. He also holds charge of Telangana after its separation from Andhra Pradesh in in 2014.

He is the only governor who is continuing though he was appointed during the UPA regime. Prior to taking up the assignment in Andhra Pradesh, 74-year-old Narasimhan, who retired in December 2006, was a governor of Chhattisgarh between 2007 and 2009.