Transferred to Mizoram, Maha governor quits

My tongue will have another two inches from tomorrow. I am a free citizen,’ he said, adding he had sent his resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee. When asked why he had resigned, he said, ‘It is not right for me to reveal reasons behind my resignation because my feeling is that I have to honour the Constitution.’

He also indicated he may return to active politics. ‘As the Governor, I wasn’t involved in politics. From today, I will definitely be involved in active politics,’ he said.

Meanwhile, this move comes even after home minister Rajnath Singh recently said the Centre had not sought the removal of Uttarakhand governor Aziz Qureshi who had moved the Supreme Court over the government’s move to ease him out. After the SC issued notice to the Centre, Singh had said, ‘There was no move to remove him (Qureshi). He holds the constitutional post with the pleasure of the President.’ The statement from the minister came a day after the SC had issued notice to the Centre on the Uttarakhand governor’s plea challenging the Narendra Modi government’s move to ease him out of office, bringing the controversy over the removal of UPA-appointed governors by the Modi government back to the fore.

Sankaranarayanan is among several governors appointed by the UPA who have been asked to resign by the incumbent government. Some governors had given in to pressure and resigned, while others, including Sankaranarayanan, had refused to do so.

A communique issued well past Saturday midnight by the Rashtrapati Bhavan stated that the 82-year-old governor had been transferred to Mizoram for the remainder of his term, which ends in 2017. Gujarat governor Om Prakash Kohli has been asked to discharge his duties, it added.