New Delhi: After forcing some governors to quit, the Narendra Modi government on Friday sacked Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Virendra Kataria, in the first such action against political appointees of the UPA regime.
A late night announcement by Rashtrapati Bhavan said, "The President has directed that Shri Virendra Kataria, shall cease to hold the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry."
Lt Gen (Retd) Ajay Kumar Singh, Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands will discharge the functions of LG of Puducherry, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements for this post are made, a Rashtrapati Bhavan press communique said.
81-year-old Mr Kataria, former Punjab Congress President and ex-Rajya Sabha member, was appointed Puducherry Lieutenant Governor in July last year, replacing another former Congressman from the state Iqbal Singh, also a former Rajya Sabha MP.
Friday's decision comes in the midst of Government having initiated the process to finalise the list of BJP veterans to be appointed as Governors to fill up vacancies in various Raj Bhavans.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other top leaders are believed to have discussed the issue and shortlisted the names.
Political observers interpreted the decision as probably an indirect signal to UPA-nominated Governors to quit or face removal.
The names doing the rounds for being appointed as Governors include former Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Keshri Nath Tripathi, former Union minister Ram Naik, former Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon, former Bhopal MP Kailash Joshi, BJP leader from Kerala O Rajagopal and veteran party leader from Himachal Pradesh Shanta Kumar.
Following the change of guard at the Centre and the new regime's pressure, five Governors have already resigned. They are B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), M K Narayanan (West Bengal), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland) and B V Wanchoo (Goa).
Two Governors -- H R Bhardwaj (Karnataka) and Devanand Konwar (Tripura) -- retired late last month.
A late night announcement by Rashtrapati Bhavan said, "The President has directed that Shri Virendra Kataria, shall cease to hold the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry."
Lt Gen (Retd) Ajay Kumar Singh, Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands will discharge the functions of LG of Puducherry, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements for this post are made, a Rashtrapati Bhavan press communique said.
Friday's decision comes in the midst of Government having initiated the process to finalise the list of BJP veterans to be appointed as Governors to fill up vacancies in various Raj Bhavans.
Advertisement
Political observers interpreted the decision as probably an indirect signal to UPA-nominated Governors to quit or face removal.
Advertisement
Following the change of guard at the Centre and the new regime's pressure, five Governors have already resigned. They are B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), M K Narayanan (West Bengal), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland) and B V Wanchoo (Goa).
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Opinion: What I Learnt In 100 Days As Lieutenant Governor Opinion: With WhatsApp, I'm Trying To Ensure Common Man Gets Immediate Help Governor Kiran Bedi's First Big Step: No Sirens, Right Of Way For VIPs Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign Wife Among Two Jailed For Life For Man's Murder In Gurugram: Cops 1,100 Flights Cancelled In US As Microsoft Outage Disrupts Operations Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.