Dwivedi is Gujarat’s new governor

Devendra Nath Dwivedi, 73, a veteran Supreme Court lawyer who is a part of the Congress’s top think tanks, was appointed by the UPA government, on Saturday, as the new governor of Gujarat.

In an exclusive interview with DNA, Dwivedi said that the appointment was the source of immeasurable pride for him. “It is a very great honour to be appointed as the governor of the state which has given the world great leaders like the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,” Dwivedi said.

“Gujarat had contributed immensely to the freedom struggle,” he said, “and I have high respect for the state.” As for his priorities as the governor, he said, “They would be to ensure the development of the state and to defend the Constitution whenever required.”

Dwivedi is very close to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and has been with the Congress for more than four decades. He was an MP in early the ‘70s and has been a member of more than a dozen committees of the Parliament, including important joint-Parliamentary committees. He rose to become a senior Supreme Court advocate in 1987 and was appointed as the additional solicitor-general in 1992. The current Gujarat governor, Nawal Kishore Sharma, retires on July 24.