Arunachal Pradesh Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa has been sacked weeks after the Supreme Court restored the Congress government in the state, accusing him of violating the constitution.
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The communique also said that Mr. V. Shanmuganathan, Governor of Meghalaya, had been appointed to discharge the functions of the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements for the office of the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh are made.
Rajkhowa’s stint came to an end after President Pranab Mukherjee passed the directive on the Centre’s recommendation.
The government waited to act against the governor until after a two-day special session of the Arunachal Pradesh assembly called on Thursday to ratify a constitutional amendment bill enabling the Goods and Services Tax or GST. A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said, Mr. Rajkhowa will cease to hold the office of the Governor. Speaking to a Guwahati-based TV channel, the Governor had said, “I will not resign”.
“I will not resign, let them dismiss me…let the president express his dipleasure”. In the meeting with the President, sources said that Rajnath told Pranab that the Centre has lost confidence in Rajkhowa.
The centre had earlier asked Mr Rajkhowa to resign “on health grounds” but he had defiantly refused to step down.
Rajkhowa, a former IAS officer from Assam with a reputation for personal integrity, was appointed governor of the sensitive border state on May 12, 2015. “Let the government use provisions of Article 156 of the Constitution”, he said.
While explaining his position on the entire issue, Mr Rajkhowa had also written to the President, who, in turn, forwarded the letter to the home ministry.
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However, when the Home Ministry submitted a detailed report on the Governor to the President, he sacked Rajkhowa on Monday.
