Exactly one year after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu has resigned from his post. He has been replaced by former Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha.
In August 2019, the Central government reorganised Jammu and Kashmir, bifurcating it into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Murmu’s resignation has been accepted by the President Ram Nath Kovind.
A former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1985 batch, Gujarat cadre, Murmu was Principal Secretary to Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoj Sinha will replace Murmu as the new Lieutenant Governor of J&K. Sinha held the portfolio of Telecom and Railways between 2014 and 2019 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A former Banares Hindu University student union president leader, Sinha won Lok Sabha elections twice from Ghazipur in eastern UP. He, however, lost the 2019 polls.