Newly-appointed governor says he's determined to bridge gap between Centre and state
Ram Naik, who was been nominated as the governor of Uttar Pradesh, said on Monday that he was determined to bridge the gap between the state and the BJP-led government at the Centre.
"At present the situation in Uttar Pradesh is challenging," said the veteran BJP leader who was elected member of Parliament five times and also had three terms in the state legislature.
Talking to journalists after receiving an official intimation about his appointment as UP governor, Naik mentioned the law and order situation, unemployment, delay in completion of several projects announced by the Centre and the state, as some of the major areas that required attention.
"I will try to bridge the gap and help the UP government to bring about constructive change," he said.
Naik also mentioned education as a key area. "I am aware that I have a lot of cleaning up to do in the 27 universities that will come under my jurisdiction," he said. As governor he is automatically the chancellor of universities in the state.
When asked whether a person from Maharashtra would be accepted by the people of UP, he said, "If I am Ram Bhau here I will be Ram Bhaiya there. Very few people know that Gaga Bhatt, who was from Kashi, was specially called on the insistence of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to perform his coronation. This is an example of the relations," the 80-year-old leader said.
Naik recalled with nostalgia his days as a Union minister of petroleum, a visit to Indonesia and his meeting with Saddam Hussain. "The media had published a picture of us together, where Saddam humbly responded to my 'pranam' (greetings) with a similar same gesture," he said.
He expressed his gratefulness to the BJP leadership for giving him an opportunity to serve the people and also acknowledging his contribution. "I joined the party in the 1960s as an activist at the local level. I worked very hard. But the party gave me a lot more," he said.
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