IMPHAL, August 27: The Governor of the Manipur, Vinod Kumar Duggal has tendered his resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee today afternoon.
The Governor-in-charge of Manipur is to be held by the incumbent Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Balkrishna Acharya, a source from the BJP State chapter informed IFP from the capital.
It may be mentioned that the resignation came after the BJP earlier made their stance clear that the UPA appointed Governors would have to go.
The Governor of Maharashtra, K Sankaranarayana, another UPA appointee resigned on Sunday last after getting his transfer order to Mizoram.
Former Delhi Chief Minister and Governor of Kerala, Sheila Dikshit resigned on Tuesday.
The resignation of VK Duggal is the third in a span of a week.
He was appointed as the Governor of the State on December 23, 2013.
This was Duggal’s fifth assignment after he retired as a Home Secretary in March 2007.
Soon after his retirement, he was appointed as a member of the Commission on Centre State Relations where he served for three years.
PB Acharya was sworn in as the 18th Governor of Nagaland July 14, 2014.
This is not the first time that Governors appointed by previous governments have been made to quit or resign. It may be recalled the BJP complained to the Supreme Court in 2004 against the UPA government for making the NDA appointed Governors resign.
The source from Delhi added that the State BJP has been intimating the Centre about the various situations prevalent in the State and to make certain changes in the administration.
It was mentioned that the ousting of RIMS director L Sekharjit and the resignation of the Governor was an initiative of the BJP and the decision was made by the Prime Minister’s Office, PMO, to usher in development and transparency for effective administration of the State.