NEW DELHI, April 14: The six Governors who resigned on Monday did so on orders from the Vajpayee Government. Home Ministry sources revealed that all six were rung up on Monday morning by the office of the Home Secretary and asked to submit their resignations by the evening.While Mizoram Governor A P Mookherjee and Goa Governor T Satishchandran complied immediately, others tried to dig in their heels on grounds that their term had not finished.The recalcitrant Governors were told in no uncertain terms that if they did not quit on their own, the Government would be forced to dismiss them. By late evening, the Home Ministry had all the resignations in the bag.In addition to the Mizo and Goa Governors, the others who were asked to go are Gujarat Governor Krishnapal Singh, Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lt Governor I P Gupta and Pondicherry Lt. Governor Rajendra Kumari Bajpai.Home Ministry sources said the names of their successors would be announced in the next day ortwo after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee returns from Assam.In addition to these six states and Union territories, the new Government will appoint Governors in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra. The tenures of the present incumbents have long ended.The move to ask the Governors to put in their papers was prompted by their refusal to see the writing on the wall, even after Home Minister L K Advani had announced on Sunday that the Government would review the appointments made by the previous Government. While Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari quit as promised as soon as Vajpayee was invited to form the Government, BJP circles feel that others with similar anti-BJP credentials should have followed his example.Like Bhandari, Gujarat Governor Krishnapal Singh and Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, too have been embroiled in running battles with the party leadership in their states. The BJP has publicly criticised them and even demanded theirremoval.Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma went so far as to openly warn Khanna on Sunday that he was among the top five officials being changed in the state.Singh is perceived by the BJP as a pro-Vaghela man and the party has not forgiven him for allowing the RJP to split away and form a government in the state after a questionable floor test in the State Assembly.As for Mookherjee and Satishchandran, the Government felt that their appointments were malafide as they were done after the Gujral Government resigned and general elections were announced.In asking unwanted Governors to go before the expiry of their tenure, the Vajpayee Government is following a precedent set by the Janata Government when it assumed office in 1977.The then Prime Minister Morarji Desai and his Home Minister Charan Singh set a record by dismissing Governors and Governments across northern and western India, claiming that they had lost the people's mandate.When Indira Gandhi came back to power in 1980, sheretaliated by ridding herself of all Janata appointees.And when the V P Singh Government assumed office in 1989, it followed suit.However, Narasimha Rao allowed governors appointed by the opposition to stay put, in the interest of keeping his minority government out of controversy.Gujarat Governor Krishnapal too resigns Gujarat Governor Krishnapal Singh told reporters in Gandhinagar today that had sent in his resignation to President K R Narayanan last night itself. However the fate of Rajendra Kumari Bajpayi, Lt Governor of Union Territory of Pondicherry, was unclear as there were conflicting reports about whether she had resigned. Governors of Mizoram and Goa-Arun Prosad Mukherjee and T R Satishchandran-have already resigned along with Lt Governors of Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Islands-Tejinder Khanna and IK Gupta.
