NEW DELHI--Mizoram governor Aziz Qureshi, who dragged the Centre to Supreme Court over attempts to remove him earlier as Uttarakhand governor, was sacked Saturday — six governors have exited the state since the Modi government took charge last May.
Qureshi, whose Raj Bhavan tenure was until May 2017, is the second governor after Kamla Beniwal to be sacked after being moved to Mizoram.
No reason was given for his removal. A Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué stated: “The President has directed that Dr Aziz Qureshi shall cease to hold the office of the Governor of Mizoram and has appointed Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, Governor of West Bengal, to discharge the functions of the Governor of Mizoram, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements for the office of the Governor of Mizoram are made.”
Tripathi is already holding additional charge of Bihar and Meghalaya.
Qureshi was in Delhi when he was sacked. When contacted, he declined comment.
He had taken over as Mizoram governor on January 9 after being transferred from Uttarakhand. After he took charge, Qureshi said he did not consider the state “a dumping ground”, that he would not resign, like some others before him, and would remain on the post until 2017.
Among the governors appointed by the UPA government, he was told by the home secretary to step down as Uttarakhand governor last year. He approached the Supreme Court against the move to force him out.
The exits from the Mizoram Raj Bhavan began last July when Vakkom B Purushothaman, who was transferred to Nagaland by the Modi government, quit saying he had not been consulted.
Indian Express
