Banwarilal Purohit (born 16 April 1940) is an Indian politician. He was the former Governor of Punjab, India and

Administrator of Chandigarh The Administrator of Chandigarh is appointed by the President of India under article 239 of the Constitution of India. Since 1984, the Governor of Punjab has acted as the administrator of Chandigarh. The official residence is Raj Bhavan, P ...

from September 2021,

Governor of Tamil Nadu The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Governor (India), Governors in India have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at the central level. They exist in the Sta ...

from 2017 to 2021, and former

Governor of Assam This is a list of governors of Assam, and other offices of similar scope, from the start of British occupation of the area in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War. The governor of Assam is the nominal head of the Indian state of Assam. The ...

from 2016 to 2017. He is a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. He was a Member of Parliament from the

Nagpur (Lok Sabha constituency) Nagpur Lok Sabha seat is one of the 48 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies of Maharashtra state in western India. This constituency is spread over Nagpur city and some part of Nagpur district. Vidhan Sabha segments Presently, Nagpur Lok S ...

three times, twice as an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

member, once as a BJP member.

Political career

Later he joined Congress. After

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

split the Congress Party and formed Congress (Indira), Purohit was elected as MLA from Nagpur East constituency in 1978, contesting as member of Congress(I), and he was re-elected in 1980 from Nagpur South and became a Minister of State for Urban Development, Slum Improvement and Housing in 1982. In 1984, he was elected to the 8th Lok Sabha as member of Congress Party. He was re-elected in 1989 on Congress ticket. Later he joined the

when it launched a movement to build Ram Temple in

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

and contested Lok Sabha elections in 1991 as the BJP candidate. But he lost to Datta Meghe of

. In 1996, he was elected to 11th Lok Sabha as BJP's candidate. In 1999, he quit the

to join the

after he developed serious differences with Pramod Mahajan. He contested the Lok Sabha elections from Ramtek in 1999 but lost. In 2003, he launched his own party called Vidarbha Rajya Party and contested the Lok Sabha elections from Nagpur in 2004 but lost. Later on, he again joined the BJP. In 2009, he again contested on BJP's ticket but lost the election to Vilas Muttemwar of

Governorship

In August 2016, Purohit was appointed

by replacing Padmanabha Acharya who had additional in-charge of Assam. On 30 September 2017 he was appointed

by President

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

. It was the first time that the state has got a full time governor after K Rosaiah retired in August 2016. On 27 August 2021 he was appointed the Governor of Punjab (additional charge) and

(additional charge). On 9 September 2021, Purohit was appointed the 29th Governor of Punjab. Purohit resigned from the post on 3 February 2024 citing personal reasons. His resignation was accepted on 28 July 2024.

Other career

Purohit gained ownership of the Nagpur daily newspaper The Hitavada from

Servants of India Society The Servants of India Society is a social reform organisation that was formed in Pune, Maharashtra, on June 12, 1905 by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who left the Deccan Education Society to form this association. Along with him were a small group of ...

in 1979. The newspaper was launched by

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( International Phonetic Alphabet, �ɡoːpaːl ˈkrɪʂɳə ˈɡoːkʰleː9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was an Indian political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement, and political me ...

in 1911 and Purohit is its current managing editor. He is also the chairman of Shri Ramdeobaba University RBU in

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

Early life

His father's name is Bhagwandas Purohit, he is married to Pushpa Devi Purohit, and he has three children. Two sons Rajendra Purohit and Rakesh Purohit, daughter Meena Purohit Joshi. He has six grandchildren and a great grandson. His eldest granddaughter, Archana Purohit Agrawal is a business coach, startup founder and author for the Book Agency Adda. He is also the chairman of Bhavans Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir Nagpur. He is the chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools founded by late Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi in 1938.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Purohit, Banwarilal India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1996–1997 People from Jhunjhunu district All India Forward Bloc politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra Living people Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Governors of Assam 1939 births Governors of Tamil Nadu Politicians from Nagpur Governors of Punjab, India Administrators of Chandigarh Maharashtra MLAs 1978–1980 Maharashtra MLAs 1980–1985