New governors for eight states

Kateekal Sankaranarayanan - Maharashtra
A senior Congressman from Kerala, K Sankaranarayanan, current Governor of Jharkhand, his transfer to the Maharashtra Raj Bhawan is being seen as a huge bonus. Sankaranarayanan was elected to the Kerala assembly from four different constituencies.

He has served as cabinet minister in the state holding portfolios like Finance, Agriculture and Excise and has been president of the party's state unit and a member of the Congress Working Committee. As Governor of Nagaland he also held additional charge of the Arunachal Pradesh and Assam governor for small stints before moving to the Jharkhand Raj Bhawan in July 2009.

MK Narayanan - West Bengal
Chief of Intelligence Bureau during Rajiv Gandhi's prime ministerial term, Narayanan was appointed to the PMO by the UPA government. But within days of settling down to Manmohan Singh's PMO, he began clashing repeatedly with JN Dixit, who was then the NSA. Dixit died a few months later, paving the way for Narayanan's rise as NSA. Narayanan enjoys the trust of both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.

Equations changed for Narayanan following the exit of Shivraj Patil from the home ministry post the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The Congress had to take a call-between Narayanan's loyalties and Chidambaram's public posturing as an efficient minister. By appointing Narayanan as governor of politically crucial West Bengal, the Congress seems to have struck a balancing act.

ESL Narasimhan - Andhra Pradesh
The former IB chief during the first UPA government is a studied analyst. More comfortable in backroom negotiations and quiet intelligence games, Narasimhan, on retirement, was appointed as the governor of Chattisgarh. In the wake of the exit of Andhra governor ND Tiwari following the sex scandal expose, Narasimhan was given additional charge of the Andhra Raj Bhawan when the pro and  anti-Telangana agitations were at their peak.

Shivraj Patil - Punjab
Unlike NSA MK Narayanan, former home minister Shivraj Pail didn't survive the political storm following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and had to resign from office taking moral responsibility. The seven-time MP from Latur (Maharashtra) survived the constant criticism in the wake of the Mumbai local train blasts and the serial blasts in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Delhi and Bangalore but had to finally bow out following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. A senior Congressman, Patil has also served as Lok Sabha speaker (1991-1996) and union defence minister.

Mohsina Kidwai - Jharkhand
The veteran Congress leader from Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh is presently member of the Rajya Sabha from Chattisgarh. Kidwai is also general secretary of the All India Congress Committee and a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

Prabha Rau - Rajasthan
Former chief of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee and present Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Rau also served as cabinet minister in Maharashtra for four terms, holding portfolios like Revenue, Youth and Sports Affairs, Education and Tourism. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly in 1979 and deputy leader of the Congress legislative party in Maharashtra between 1985-1990, she has also been a member of the Congress Working Committee and the party's  Central Election Committee.

Shekhar Dutt - Chattisgarh
A former short service commission army officer, Dutt is the brother-in-law of Pulok Chatterjee, a trusted bureaucrat of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Thanks to his connections and non-controversial posturing during service, he became the defence secretary, and soon after retirement was appointed as the deputy NSA.

Dr Urmilaben Patel - Himachal Pradesh
Widow of former Gujarat chief minister, Urmilaben Patel was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1993 after her embarrassing defeat from the Jamnagar Lok Sabha constituency in 1991. A Congress leader from Gujarat, Patel had served briefly as the union minister of state for Power between 1995-96 in the PV Narasimha Rao government.