Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan has resigned from his post amid speculation that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls in Thiruvananthapuram on a BJP ticket.
A communiqué from the Rashtrapathi Bhavan on Friday said President Ram Nath Kovind accepted Rajasekharan’s resignation.
Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi has been given additional charge of Mizoram, until regular arrangements for the office of the governor of Mizoram is made.
Rajasekharan was the president of the BJP’s Kerala unit before he was appointed Mizoram’s governor in May last year. He resigned from his post after nine months.
BJP sources said Rajasekharan was planning to contest the polls after the Kerala BJP asked the party leadership to recall him and make him a candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Mizoram BJP president J.V. Hluna said he had met Rajasekharan two days ago during which he told him that he has been “insisted upon by his people and BJP workers” to contest the elections in Thiruvananthapuram. “I requested him to remain the governor of Mizoram. I was surprised to hear that he resigned from his post today,” Hluna said.
Rajasekharan told a Kerala television channel on Friday that he resigned as the party and he himself wanted to be in Kerala.
Amid opposition from some quarters, Rajasekharan had sworn in as the 23rd governor of Mizoram on May 29, 2018, replacing former governor Lt Gen. (retd) Nirbhay Sharma. Rajasekharan’s appointment was opposed by some groups, as it would have religious impact on Mizoram as he is an “active politician and a radical Hindu”.
Born on December 23, 1952, in Kummanam village in Kerala’s Kottayam district, Rajasekharan started his career as an RSS activist in Kerala in 1970. In 1987, he resigned from government service and became a full-time Sangh worker. He was appointed as the state BJP chief in 2015.
An official release on Friday said Mukhi will be sworn in on Saturday at 11am.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Raj Bhavan, the released added.
