NEW DELHI: Mizoram Governor Aziz Qureshi, who has had a running feud with the Centre and even approached the Supreme Court against attempts to ease him out, was sacked on Saturday.
A brief statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said that “Qureshi shall cease to hold the office of the Governor of Mizoram.”
Governor of West Bengal Keshari Nath Tripathi has been asked to discharge the functions of the Mizoram Governor, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements are made, it said.
With the sacking of Qureshi, the tiny northeastern state of Mizoram is turning out to be a waterloo for Governors after the Narendra Modi government assumed office with six of them exiting in just nine months.
Qureshi had taken over as the Governor of Mizoram on January nine after being transferred from Uttarakhand and had a tenure upto May 2017.
The jinx with the gubernatorial post in Mizoram began in July last year when V. Purushottam, who was transferred to neighbouring Nagaland by the Modi government, quit saying that he had not been consulted.
This was followed by transfer of 87-year-old Kamla Beniwal from Gujarat to Mizoram. She took over as the 12th Governor on July 6 but the tenure remained short-lived as she was sacked by the Government for alleged impropriety, a charge denied by her, exactly a month later. She had two months of her tenure left.
Beniwal had served in Gujarat earlier and had a running battle with Modi when he was the state’s chief minister.
This was followed by transfer of Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan to Mizoram.
He, however, refused to take charge and quit soon after his transfer order was issued on August 24 last.
Former Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, who was the then governor of Manipur, was given the additional charge of Mizoram. His tenure was shortlived thereafter only for 20 days as he too quit on August 28.
K.K. Paul was given the additional charge of Mizoram along with Meghalaya till he was transferred to Uttarakhand to replace Qureshi. (PTI)
