3 min readNew Delhi/ AizawlJul 8, 2014 01:56 AM IST
First published on: Jul 8, 2014 at 01:56 AM IST
Upset with the NDA government’s decision to transfer him to Nagaland, Mizoram Governor Vakkom Purushothaman is learnt to have decided to resign.
Sources close to the Governor said he will not move to Kohima as he has not taken his transfer kindly. His term ends in 2016.
Purushothaman, a veteran Congress leader from Kerala, is set to resign in a couple of days. “He is returning to Kerala and will tender his resignation once he is there,” a source close to him said.
Purushothaman was transferred to Nagaland to make way for Kamla Beniwal, who was moved from Gujarat to Mizoram. Purushothaman was not expecting the transfer as he had not received any indication from the government to quit. The new government had indicated to as many as six Governors that it wants them to demit office to make way for its nominees.
Meanwhile, the Mizoram state unit of the BJP has said Dr Kamla Beniwal, who has been transferred as Governor from Gujarat to Mizoram, should resign before she reaches Mizoram.
In a statement signed by the party’s state unit general secretary K Lalchhanhima, which began with a greeting to Beniwal, the BJP said, “(Beniwal) was at loggerheads with Prime Minister Narendra Modi while she was Gujarat Governor and so we find no reason how she can be useful to our state.”
“She should resign because the Congress, which appointed her, has been defeated. Rather she has refused to do so and now faces a punishment posting, but it is our firm demand that she resign before even reaching Mizoram,” the statement added.
Sources at Raj Bhavan said Purushothaman is scheduled to visit Chennai on July 9 and then go to Kerala. Sources said, he is unlikely to return to Aizawl as scheduled on July 18 or he may stay till July 11 when Beniwal is scheduled to take over.
While one senior aide said the Governor is unlikely to accept the new posting because of “principles” involved, another said his wife’s health is and has been a major concern; Dr Lily Purushothaman is a heart patient and her husband has been looking for an opportunity to reside in a more urban region with better health facilities for the past several years, according to an aide.
Share
