Basu meets PM Makes out state's case Tiger Dimming counts New Governor Viren Shah is new governor for Bengal

The West Bengal chief minister, Jyoti Basu, has endorsed the name of Viren Shah, former BJP parliamentarian and industrialist, as the new Governor of the state and the Centre has announced the appointment.

Basu said the home minister Lal Krishna Advani had called him up on Wedensday and discussed the name of Shah as the next Governor and the chief minister had given his assent. ``I have nothing against the appointment. Mr Shah is a veteran parliamentarian and a known industrialist. We are sure that he will do whatever is good for the state,'' he added. Mr Shah's name had come up for the candidature earlier too but at that time, he had declined to accept the post for personal preoccupations after which the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court Shyamal Kumar Sen had taken over as governor. The new appointment thus makes the appointment of Shah regular and the state is thus going to have a full-fledged governor after a long time since Mr AR Kidwai went. Shah was born and spent much of his adult life in Calcutta and is thus familiar to the state's problems and environs. The 73-year-old chief of the Mukand group of Industries has headed several chambers of commerce and his appointment has naturally made the industrial sections happy.