Lakshman Acharya

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Lakshman Prasad Acharya (born 3 October 1954) is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is the 28th Governor of Assam, taking office on 30 July 2024. Earlier, he served as the 17th Governor of Sikkim from February 2023 to July 2024. He was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council from 2015 to 2023, elected by the MLAs, and he served as Deputy Leader of the House in the Council (2020–2023, with a second term starting in 2021). He was also Vice-President of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh (2018–2023) and led the BJP’s Kashi region. He was the BJP’s election convener for the Varanasi seat in the 2019 general elections.

Acharya was born into a lower middle-class family in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He began his career as a teacher and started several schools in remote areas. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) early on and became active in politics and social work. In the 1970s he participated in protests against the Shimla Agreement and went underground during the Emergency (1975–76). In 1977 he launched a campaign to promote child education in villages, earning a reputation for opening private primary schools in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was involved in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the 1980s with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Within the BJP, Acharya held several positions: District President of BJP in Varanasi, Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Fisheries Development Corporation (1997–2000), Regional Minister for the Kashi region (2002), and State President of the BJP SC/ST Wing (2004). His work helped the BJP perform strongly in the Kashi region during the 2014 elections, and Narendra Modi won the Varanasi seat that year. He was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 2015 and chaired multiple committees. In 2018 he became Vice-President of the Uttar Pradesh BJP, and in 2019 he was the party’s candidate for Varanasi in the general elections. He served as Deputy Leader of the UP Legislative Council from August 2020 until his resignation in February 2023 to become Governor of Sikkim.

As governor, Acharya has served as the Governor of Sikkim until July 2024 and then as the Governor of Assam from July 2024. He also had Additional Charge as Governor of Manipur from 30 July 2024 to 2 January 2025. He resides at Raj Bhavan, Guwahati.

Personal life: He is married to Kumud Devi since 1987 and has a daughter, Shraddha, who is married to social entrepreneur Baran Roy.