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Rashtrapati Bhavan notified on 5 September 2026 that President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Dr Dinesh Sharma as Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
He becomes the 15th Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory, replacing Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi (Retd), who had held the post since 8 October 2017.
Sharma, 62, is a BJP Rajya Sabha MP whose Upper House term was due to end on 25 November 2026, creating a vacancy on his move.
He was Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2017 to 2022 and twice Mayor of Lucknow, after the 2006 and 2012 civic elections.
A Lieutenant Governor is the President's representative in a Union Territory under Article 239 of the Constitution.
Every Union Territory is administered by the President acting through an administrator appointed by him. The administrator's designation varies — Lieutenant Governor in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh; Administrator elsewhere.
Empowers the President to make regulations for the peace, progress and good government of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and certain other Union Territories — a law-making power exercised directly by the Union in this UT.
Governs the composition of the Rajya Sabha, whose members are elected by State Legislative Assemblies or nominated by the President. Sharma's move to a UT post opens his seat before its scheduled expiry.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie in the Bay of Bengal, off India's east, and form the country's southernmost territory. The Ten Degree Channel separates the Andaman group from the Nicobar group. Indira Point in Great Nicobar is India's southernmost point, and the islands sit astride the shipping lanes leading to the Strait of Malacca.
GS Paper II > Polity > Union Territories and the office of the administrator
General Awareness > Current appointments and Indian polity
The "Cellular Jail", also known as Kala Pani, is located in which state/UT?
Answer: Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Which one of the following pairs of islands is separated from each other by the 'Ten Degree Channel'?
Answer: Andaman and Nicobar
The designation of the administrator through whom the President administers certain Union Territories under Article 239; he holds office during the pleasure of the President.
Capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, renamed from Port Blair by a gazette notification of 14 September 2024.
The sea channel that separates the Andaman group of islands from the Nicobar group.