Oppn not an 'enemy', says new Telangana Guv Jishnu Dev Varma

Agartala: Former Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, who was appointed as Governor of Telangana by President Droupadi Murmu last week on Monday, said that the "opposition parties are not an enemy".

Dev Varma has been appointed as the Governor of Telangana replacing C.P. Radhakrishnan, who held additional charge of Telangana along with Jharkhand, said that he would assume charge in the Gubernatorial post in Hyderabad on July 31 and would attend the Governors' conference in the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi on August 1.

He said that Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy called him on Sunday and congratulated him for being appointed as the Governor of the state.

Asked about Congress-ruled Telangana, Dev Varma, a veteran BJP leader associated with the party since 1990, said that "any opposition party is not an enemy".

"The Congress is democratically elected in the state (Telangana). As a Constitutional head of the state, I would discharge my constitutional responsibility in consultation with the Chief Minister," the 67-year-old BJP leader told IANS.

"It is not possible to run governments by BJP in every state. In a democracy, somewhere Congress will govern... Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress, and other parties may run the governments. The Prime Minister also always advocates for healthy democratic activities."

Dev Varma, a member of the erstwhile Tripura royal family, said that he would work in the state (Telangana) in coordination with the state government.

He added that his experience in Tripura would be utilised in Telangana and his understanding of that state (Telangana) can also be useful in Tripura as well.

Thanking President Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for appointing him as the Governor of an important state, Dev Varma, an author of several books, said that for the first time since independence, a leader from Tripura has been appointed as the Governor.

Earlier, leaders from other northeastern states, including Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland, were appointed Governors, Dev Varma added.

Dev Varma served as Tripura's Deputy Chief Minister from 2018 till 2023 under Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb-led BJP government in the state and continued in his post after Manik Saha became the Chief Minister following the resignation of Deb in May 2022.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, when BJP wrested power in Tripura defeating the CPI(M) after 25 years, Dev Varma was elected to the Assembly from the Charilam constituency in Sepahijala district but he lost the seat to Tipra Motha Party in the 2023 Assembly polls.

He said that earlier there was almost no organisational presence of the BJP in Tripura. However, after the party came to power in 2018 Assembly polls, it is now the main political force in the erstwhile princely state, which was ruled by the Left and Congress for several decades since it merged with India in October 1949.

"There are two Lok Sabha members from Tripura. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made BJP leader (Pratima Bhowmik) from Tripura as Union Minister and gave several Padma awards to many personalities in the state. People of Tripura would remain grateful to Prime Minister Modi for helping Tripura in all sectors of development," Dev Varma added.