Ekkadu Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan (born 4 November 1945) is an Indian former civil servant and politician who served as the first Governor of Telangana.[3][4] He assumed office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh on 8 December 2009 until 23 July 2019 making him the longest-serving governor of the state. Later he took on 2 June 2014 as the 1st Governor of Telangana as additional charge.[5] A retired Indian Police Service officer, he previously served as the Director of the Intelligence Bureau from February 2005 to December 2006.[6] He also served as the Governor of Chhattisgarh from 2007 to 2009.[7] Narasimhan served as governor for 12 years making him the longest-serving governor in India.[8]

E. S. L. Narasimhan
1st Governor of Telangana
In office
24 July 2019 – 7 September 2019
Chief MinisterK. Chandrasekhar Rao
Preceded byHimself (additional charge)
Succeeded byTamilisai Soundararajan
Governor of Telangana
(Additional Charge)
In office
2 June 2014 – 23 July 2019
Chief MinisterK. Chandrasekhar Rao
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byHimself
20th Governor of Andhra Pradesh
In office
27 December 2009 – 23 July 2019
Chief MinisterKonijeti Rosaiah
Kiran Kumar Reddy
N. Chandrababu Naidu
Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy
Preceded byN. D. Tiwari
Succeeded byBiswabhusan Harichandan
3rd Governor of Chhattisgarh
In office
25 January 2007 – 27 December 2009
Chief MinisterRaman Singh
Preceded byKrishna Mohan Seth
Succeeded byShekhar Dutt
Director of Intelligence Bureau
In office
February 2005 – December 2006
Personal details
Born (1945-11-04) 4 November 1945 (age 79)[1][2]
Madras Presidency, British India
(now Tamil Nadu, India)
SpouseVimala Narasimhan
Alma materPresidency College, Madras Law College

Early life

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Narasimhan was born in Tamil Nadu in 1945. After an initial two years schooling at Little Flower High School, Hyderabad, he completed his entire education from Chennai. Migrating from Physics to Political science, Narasimhan was awarded the gold medal at the Madras Presidency College. He is also a graduate in Law from the Madras Law College.[9]

Career

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Narasimhan belongs to the 1968 batch of IPS from Andhra Pradesh cadre. He served as the First Secretary in the Embassy of India in Moscow from 1981 to 1984. He is highly respected police official.

He worked in the Intelligence Bureau for many years until retiring as the director of the bureau on 31 December 2006.[10] He is also an alumnus of the National Defence College, New Delhi.

On 19 January 2007, Narasimhan was appointed Governor of Chhattisgarh, and took office on 25 January.[11] On 27 December 2009, he took additional charge as acting Governor of Andhra Pradesh, from Narayan Dutt Tiwari, who resigned after a sex scandal.[4] On 23 January 2010, he was formally appointed to the governorship of Andhra Pradesh, upon leaving office in Chhattisgarh.[7]

With the process for formation of a separate Telangana state entering crucial phase, Andhra Pradesh governor Narasimhan held a series of meeting with central leaders in the national capital on 23 October 2013.

Summoned by the Centre for consultations before the efforts to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh are intensified, Narasimhan held separate meetings with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

 
E. S. L. Narasimhan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Hyderabad metro inauguration in 2017

Narasimhan first met Chidambaram, who is a member of the Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to work out modalities for formation of the Telangana state. During the meeting, which lasted for 30 minutes, the governor is believed to have discussed various issues that may arise post-bifurcation. The governor later called on the UPA chairperson and briefed her on the latest situation in the state in the wake of the decision to carve Telangana state. He is learnt to have presented a report on the bifurcation issue.[12] The Telugu Desam Party has taken strong exception to Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan's meetings with Congress top leaders in New Delhi and questioned if it was part of his official duties.

Leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council and Telugu Desam Party politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu criticised the governor for meeting AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh in New Delhi in October 2013. "Why should the governor go to Digvijay's residence and brief him? Is it part of governor's official duties?", Yanamala questioned. He alleged the governor was "doing the rounds of Congress leaders' houses" carrying official files. "Is the governor going to decide the fate of 8.47 crore Telugu people?", Yanamala said.[13][14]

During the controversial president rule from 1 May 2014 to 1 June 2014, he, as Governor of undivided Andhra Pradesh, issued many extra constitutional government orders without having taken approval from the Parliament under article 356(1) or sanction of parliament under article 357(1) of the constitution.[15] He took oath of office as state governor to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law.

On 13 June 2017 Narasimhan became longest serving Governor of Andhra Pradesh by surpassing Krishan Kant.

References

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  1. ^ "SHRI E.S.L. Narasimhan". Official Website of Andhra Pradesh Raj Bhavan. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Welcome to the official Website of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Raj Bhavan". governor.tsap.nic.in. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  3. ^ "New Governors Appointed In 5 States, Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Gets Telangana". NDTV.com. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Sex sting fallout: Chhattisgarh governor gets additional charge of Andhra". The Times of India. 27 December 2009.
  5. ^ PTI (1 June 2014). "TRS chief KCR to be sworn-in as first CM of Telangana on Monday". The Indian Express. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Directors of Intelligence Bureau" (PDF). 16 August 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Shekhar Dutt sworn in as Chhattisgarh governor". New Kerala. 23 January 2010.
  8. ^ "ESL Narasimhan's stint as India's longest-serving governor comes to an end". The News Minute. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Narasimhan takes over as Andhra governor". Hindustan Times. 28 December 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011.
  10. ^ "Narasimhan to take oath as Chhattisgarh Governor on Jan. 25", The Hindu, 21 January 2007.
  11. ^ "Former IB chief Narasimhan sworn in Chhattisgarh governor". Indo Asian News Service. 25 January 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2007.
  12. ^ "Andhra governor calls on Sonia Gandhi, Shinde". Oneindia. 23 October 2013.
  13. ^ PTI (24 October 2013). "TDP criticises AP Governor for meeting Congress leaders in Delhi". Oneindia. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  14. ^ "TDP flays AP Guv for meeting Cong leaders in Delhi". Press Trust of India. 24 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Andhra Pradesh mired in President rule imbroglio". The Times of India. 19 April 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
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Government offices
Preceded by Director of the Intelligence Bureau
January 2005 - December 2006
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Chhattisgarh
25 January 2007 – 23 January 2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Andhra Pradesh
28 December 2009 – 23 July 2019
Succeeded by
Preceded by
State Created
Governor of Telangana
2 June 2014 - 31 August 2019
Succeeded by