Manoj Sinha appointed as Jammu & Kashmir Governor after G C Murmu's resignation

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor G C Murmu resigned on Wednesday almost nine months after taking charge at the first LG of the union territory.

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.

According to media reports, Murmu is the top contender for the Comptroller and Auditor General post which is likely to become vacant soon.

Following Murmu's resignation, former union minister and senior BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, Manoj Sinha, was on Thursday appointed as Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, the Rashtrapati Bhawan spokesman said.

Murmu's resignation came on the day the Union Territory marked the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

The 60-year-old former IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre had on October 29 last year taken over as the first LG of the union territory after the state of Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded and sliced into two UTs, the other one being Ladakh.

There was no official word on the reasons for the resignation of Murmu, a 1985-batch IAS officer, who has served as Principal Secretary to Narendra Modi during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister.

He was a secretary in the ministry of finance at the time of his appointment as Lt Governor.

Highly-placed sources said that Murmu was likely to be given a new assignment at the Centre.

Manoj Sinha appointed as new Governor

The communique issued 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.

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.

Sinha has been a member of the BJP national council from 1989 to 1996. He was elected to the Lower House for a third term in national politics when the BJP swept the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

He was former Minister of State for Railways and later held an independent charge of Ministry of Communication.

(With PTI inputs.)

(With PTI inputs.)