New Delhi, Aug 6 (UNI) Senior BJP leader Manoj Sinha has been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir replacing Girish Chandra Murmu who resigned on Wednesday after serving the Union Territory for nearly one year.
With his appointment, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will for the first time have a politician as its Lt Governor.
Mr Murmu who resigned on Wednesday exactly one year after the creation of the new Union Territory, is a senior bureaucrat.
"The President has accepted the resignation of Shri Girish Chandra Murmu as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. 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,’’ Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement
Mr Murmu, a 1985-batch Gujarat cadre officer, worked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister. After Mr Modi became the Prime Minister, the officer joined the Union Finance
Ministry. He became part of the expenditure department as a joint-secretary.
His resignation comes exactly a year after the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370.
The removal of special status paved way for the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Mr Sinha held charge of the Communication Ministry as a Minister of State in 2016. He has also been Minister of State for Railways.
The 61-year-old leader is a three-time BJP MP from Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was defeated by Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Afzal Ansari in 2019 Lok Sabha poll.
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