New Delhi: In a surprise development, Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu resigned on Wednesday, exactly a year after the nullification of Article 370 and nine months after he took over the reins of the newly created Union Territory.
Following this, former Union Minister and senior BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, Manoj Sinha, was today appointed as Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
A communique issued by the President’s Secretariat said that the resignation of Girish Chandra Murmu as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir has been accepted.
The statement by the President’s Press Secretary Ajay Kumar said, “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 in place of Murmu”.
Murmu’s resignation has at a time when there are controversies over his comments on restoration of 4G services when the matter was in the Supreme Court and the Election Commission’s objections to his remarks on the timing of the Assembly polls in the UT.
Murmu, a 1985-batch Gujarat cadre officer, worked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister. After Modi became the Prime Minister, the officer joined the Union Finance Ministry. He became part of the expenditure department as a Joint Secretary.
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.
His political career started when he was elected the president of Banaras Hindu University Students Union in 1982. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996 and repeated the term in 1999.