Another UPA-appointed governor resigns

Manipur Governor Vinod Kumar Duggal on Thursday resigned from the post, becoming the ninth UPA-appointee in Raj Bhavan to quit.

Duggal’s resignation came two months after the nudge from the NDA government. Besides Manipur, Duggal was holding additional charge of Mizoram. With this, there are vacancies in four Raj Bhavans–in Kerala, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur. 

Sixteen governors appointed by the previous UPA government are still holding charge. They include Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi, who has approached the Supreme Court.

Among the remaining governors, political appointees include Shivraj Patil (Punjab), J B Patnaik (Assam), D Y Patil (Bihar), Urmila Singh (Himachal Pradesh), Ram Naresh Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Syed Ahmed (Jharkhand), S C Jamir (Odisha) and K Rosaiah (Tamil Nadu).

The NDA government has so far appointed 10 governors, the latest on Tuesday when it selected Gujarat Speaker Vajubhai Rudubhai Vala as Karnataka governor.

Six governors–M K Narayanan (West Bengal), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland), B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), B V Wanc­hoo (Goa) and Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh).K Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) and Vakkom Pur­ushottaman (Mizoram) quit following their transfer to Miz­oram and Nagaland, respectively. Sheila Dikshit also resigned as Kerala governor on Monday.