G.C. Murmu, the first Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) of the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir has apparently resigned as L-G exactly one year after it was created, and is likely to be appointed as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Also read: Who is Manoj Sinha, the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir?
The President has accepted the resignation of Shri Girish Chandra Murmu as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
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"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", a Rashtrapati Bhavan release said.
Manoj Sinha, who served as Minister of Communications, and Minister of State for Railways in the NDA government will take over as the new Lieutenant-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to top sources, Mr. Murmu will replace Rajive Mehrishi as CAG and his appointment notification is likely be issued on a day or two.
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Sources told The Hindu that Mr. Murmu left Srinagar on Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to Jammu. He is expected to be in Delhi on Thursday.
In recent weeks, Mr. Murmu has been involved in some controversies over apparent disagreements with the Centre.
Most notably, his comments suggesting 4G Internet should be restored in the valley ran into trouble with security agencies who had recommended against it.
In another instance of disagreement, the Election Commission of India (EC) pulled him up for saying that elections in the UT would follow the delimitation exercise as this was the EC’s mandate. In a strongly worded press release, the EC stated that it was not the domain of L-G to comment on the schedule of holding elections in the UT.
Mr. Murmu is a 1985 batch Gujarat cadre IAS Officer who worked closely with PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in Gandhinagar as well as in Delhi. He was Secretary-Expenditure when he was appointed as the first L-G of the UT, after the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh.
(Inputs from Suhasini Haidar)