Guwahati: Former Governor of Nagaland, Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya, better known as P B Acharya breathed his last on Friday. He was 92.
Acharya was a senior leader has served in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the BJP.
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He has the distinction of being only the second person from coastal Karnataka to have been picked up for the Governor’s post after Margaret Alva, and first ever from the GSB community.
He was the son of Balakrishna and Radha Acharya and was born on October 8, 1931, in Udupi district in Karnataka.
He completed his matriculation from Christian High School, Udupi and after that studied at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College (MGM College), Udupi in 1949.
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After graduation, Acharya worked in Mumbai and was associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and was a member of Mumbai University’s senate.
He also completed an LL.B degree from Mumbai University. He was credited with planning the University of Delhi’s Gyanodaya Express College on Wheels to North East India.
Acharya held numerous positions in the BJP before becoming governor.
In 1980, Acharya joined the BJP and was elected the BJP President of North West Bombay District in 1987 later in 1989 became a committee member of the Mumbai BJP.
In 1991, he was elected a national executive member of the BJP in charge of the North Eastern States namely: Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland of India.
He was also all India national secretary of the BJP and in charge of North Eastern States from 1995-2002.
Acharya was appointed Governor of Nagaland on 14 July 2014 which ended in July 2019.
Between 12 December 2014 and 17 August 2016, Acharya held additional charge as Governor of Assam. He was also the Governor of Tripura from 21 July 2014 to 19 May 2015.
He was also given additional charge as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on 26 January 2017. He was also given additional charge as the Governor of Manipur in the absence of Najma Heptulla for a few weeks in July 2019.