There is no smoke without fire, goes the adage. This seems to be true in the case of the reports that former Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj would be appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.
The news about Sushma’s likely appointment as Andhra Pradesh governor came out on Monday evening from reliable sources in New Delhi.
The fact that Union health minister Harsh Vardhan himself tweeted on the same indicated that there was indeed a discussion in the top BJP circles about her appointment in the gubernatorial post.
So, there was some fire in this regard that generated smoke. But it subsided within a couple of hours, after Sushma herself tweeted saying it was wrong news and that her visit to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu’s house might have triggered the rumour.
However, sources said Sushma’s name indeed had come up for discussion for AP Governor post, but she apparently did not evince interest in it.
She is understood to have told the party bosses that she would better remain in the party without any post, rather than becoming the Governor of any state.
Apparently, Sushma was expecting to be appointed as a member of Rajya Sabha next year and get back into the cabinet. She does not want to retire as a Governor, sources said.