New Delhi: In a recent reshuffle, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind has announced new Governors for as many as five states of the country - including Telangana, Rajasthan,  Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala. Kalraj Mishra has been transferred from Himachal Pradesh to Rajasthan, where he replaces Kalyan Singh as the new Governor. Bandaru Dattatreya replaces Mishra in Himachal Pradesh. The senior BJP leader was earlier given the charge of the Himachal Pradesh Governor replacing Acharya Devvrat.

Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been appointed the new Governor of Maharashtra shunting out Vidyasagar Rao. Dattatreya has been appointed as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh replacing Kalraj Mishra, who moves to Rajasthan.

In Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan replaces P. Sathasivam as the new Governor. Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan has been made the new governor of Telangana replacing E.S.L. Narasimhan. The appointments take effect from the dates the new governors take charge of their respective offices.

Fifty-eight-year-old Soundararajan, the former Tamil Nadu BJP chief and the party's national secretary, moves to Raj Bhavan in Telangana. The post was under the dual charge of E S L Narasimhan, who was the Governor of Andhra Pradesh before its bifurcation. He recently demitted office.

A former Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Narasimhan was appointed as the Governor of the undivided Andhra Pradesh in January 2010 by the then UPA government. He served as the Governor of both the Telegu states even after Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated until mid-July this year when the state got a new Governor -- Odisha BJP leader Biswa Bhushan Harichandan.

Former civil aviation minister Khan takes over as the Governor of Kerala, replacing P Sathasivam, the former chief justice of India whose five-year term came to an end. After being appointed as the new Kerala Governor, Khan said: "It is an opportunity to serve. Fortunate to be born in a country like India which is so vast and rich in diversity. It is a great opportunity for me to know this part of India, which forms boundary of India and is called God's own country."