Keshari Nath Tripathi is an Indian politician and former member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has served as Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly three times (1991-1993, 1997-2002, and May 2002-March 2004). He served as the Governor of West Bengal from July 2014 to July 2019. He has also held the additional charge as Governor of Bihar, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura.During his formative years, he developed an interest in social work and national politics. He took his first steps in politics by becoming a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1946 and associating with the right-wing political party Jana Sangh in 1952.He actively participated in the Kashmir movement launched by Jana Sangh in 1953, which led to his arrest and short-term imprisonment in Naini Central Jail, UP.Keshari Nath Tripathi’s father, Harish Chandra Tripathi, was commonly referred to as Hari Maharaj. After his retirement in 1949, Harish engaged himself in social work. He founded the Saryu Pareen School (now known as Sarvaya Inter College), which Keshari Nath Tripathi attended from Class 2 to 8.He enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh in 1956 after which he started practising in the Allahabad High Court.In the same year, he became the Joint Secretary of the High Court Bar Association, Allahabad.At the beginning of his career, he was a junior of the advocate Jagdish Swarup at Allahabad High Court for many years.As a lawyer, Keshari Nath Tripathi was an expert in Election law and represented various distinguished clients like former Prime Ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee and Charan Singh, Subramanian Swamy, Raj Narain, Former CM of Uttar Pradesh HN Bahuguna, Kalyan Singh, Laxmikant Bajpai, and various other ministers, members of the Lok Sabha and UP Legislative Assembly.Although he was offered to be elevated to Judge of Allahabad High Court in 1980, he rejected it.He served as the President of the High Court Bar Association, Allahabad for two terms (1987-1988 and 1988-1989).