New Delhi/Lucknow, September 5 (TNA) The Centre on Saturday night appointed BJP leader and former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dr Dinesh Sharma as the new Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, ending months of speculation over the next head of the Union Territory.
A presidential notification issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan on 5 September named Sharma, currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, to the constitutional post, which carries the rank of a chief minister in the UT’s administration.
From Rajya Sabha to Port Blair
Sharma, a Lucknow-based BJP leader and former mayor of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, has been serving as a Rajya Sabha member after taking the oath earlier this year following his election to the Upper House.
He previously held the deputy chief minister’s portfolio in the first Yogi Adityanath cabinet (2017–2022), handling key departments including higher education, and was seen as a prominent face of the party in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
His move from Parliament House to Port Blair will be closely watched, given the strategic importance of the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago in India’s Indo-Pacific policy and its growing focus on tourism, infrastructure and defence-related projects.