Manoj Sinha to take charge as Jammu and Kashmir's new Lieutenant Governor

President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of former Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Girish Chandra Murmu. The responsibility will now be given to senior BJP leader Manoj Sinha who will take charge as the new L-G of the union territory.

"The President has been pleased to appoint Shri Manoj Sinha, to be the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office vice Shri Girish Chandra Murmu," said a statement released by President Kovind's office.

Born on July 1, 1959, Sinha was Minister of Communications (independent charge) and Minister of State (MoS), Railways during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first term. He is a three-time BJP MP from the parliamentary constituency of Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he was defeated by Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Afzal Ansari.

Murmu had resigned as the Lt Governor on Wednesday even though there was no confirmation about who his replacement will be in the highly sensitive Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The decision came exactly a year after the Central government reorganised Jammu and Kashmir, bifurcating it into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

A 1985 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Murmu was Principal Secretary to Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.

He was appointed as the first Lieutenant-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir on October 31, 2019, after the erstwhile state's special status was revoked last year under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.