After prodding governors posted during UPA's tenure to leave, the BJP-led NDA government has widened its focus and has started knocking at the doors of other bodies seeking resignation of officials who were appointed by its predecessor.
The latest additions to the fallen heads are nine members of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), including its vice chairman Shahshidhar Reddy, president of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Dr Karan Singh, chairperson of National Commission for Women Mamata Sharma and chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes P L Punia.
"After the election, a new government is in power, so I sent in my resignation on June 16 to the PM. I would have resigned much earlier but for certain events close to the first anniversary of Uttarakhand tragedy," said Reddy.
Incidentally, most of the resignations are being solicited through calls placed by union homes secretary Anil Goswami that in the words of Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi has made him earn the nickname of SSR -- Spl Secy Resignations.
A senior member of governing council of ICCR said, "Dr Karan Singh has left the post himself before anybody could call him and show the indecency of asking to resign."
Mamata Sharma, who got defeated as a Congress candidate in Rajasthan elections, had recently asked prime minister Narendra Modi to sack union minister Nihalchand Meghwal, accused by a woman in Jaipur of raping her three years ago.
On the governors' front, the central government has managed to get resignations from two governors – B L Joshi of UP and Shekhar Dutt of Chhattisgarh. Two more governors – H R Bhardwaj of Karnataka and Devanand Konwar of Tripura are set to go as their term ends on June 28.
It looks that for the rest of the governors the BJP may have to wait a little more, as Sheila Dikshit (Kerala), KS Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) and others have chosen to maintain a stoic silence.
It could be turn out to be a protracted battle for the government as the governors have 2010 Supreme Court judgement on their side that allows them to seek a limited judicial review if they are sent out without any sound reason.
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