New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The Centre has decided to appoint former Union Minister and BJP leader Manoj Sinha as the next Lieutenant Governor of the union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, reported news agency ANI. Sinha's appointment comes just hours after Girish Chandra Murmu resigned from his post in Jammu and Kashmir.
"The President has accepted the resignation of Shri Girish Chandra Murmu as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The President has been pleased to appoint Shri Manoj Sinha to be the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office vice Shri Girish Chandra Murmu," the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement, as reported by NDTV.
The 61-year-old Sinha was born on July 1, 1959 in Mohanpura of Ghazipur district of eastern UP and has been actively involved in working for the backward villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was also a former Minister of State for Railways and later held an independent charge of Ministry of Communication.
On Wednesday, GC Murmu had resigned from the post of the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, on a day when the country observed the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status.
Murmu, 60, was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir after the Centre revoked Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. However, the 1985-batch IAS officer on Wednesday resigned from his post.
Meanwhile, there has been no official word over Murmu's resignation who has also served as Principal Secretary to Narendra Modi during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister.
The 60-year-old was a secretary in the ministry of finance at the time of his appointment as Lieutenant Governor. Government sources, however, has told news agency PTI that Murmu was likely to be given a new assignment at the Centre.
(With PTI inputs)
Posted By: Aalok Sensharma
