Shastri at home in Lucknow… and in no hurry

‘‘Why should I resign? The NDA government had not changed any Governor after assuming power at the Centre and this Government should do the same,’’ said Shastri when reminded that the UPA Government had sent a missive a few days ago, urging him to quit.

Meanwhile, at the Governor’s office, work is on at the usual pace, no last minute hurrying with files. And, nobody’s talking of packing yet. The Governor, who is a Hindi litterateur and has penned a number of books, has contributed majority of his books to the Raj Bhavan library, sources said. ‘‘He does not have a large personal paraphernalia which could take time to pack but so far, no directives have been given from the His Excellency,’’ an official said.

Besides, the Raj Bhavan is getting spruced up for the two-day visit of former prime minister A.B. Vajpayee. Vajpayee will stay at the Raj Bhavan on the night of July 3 after having dinner at the Mall Avenue residence of senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon. Vajpayee is also scheduled to meet a number of delegations at the Governor’s residence.

The Congress is certain the Raj Bhavan will have a new occupant sooner rather than later. ‘‘There is difficulty in removing the UP Governor,’’ Union Minister Shree Prakash Jaiswal said. ‘‘The BJP is making a mountain out of a molehill…it has been normal practice that each new government at the Centre place its own men on gubernatorial posts.’’