Six governors in six months: Now Qureshi goes to Mizoram

Aizawl, Jan 1 (IANS) Mizoram's Governor-designate Aziz Qureshi, who was transferred from Uttarakhand, will be the sixth head of the state in less than six months in the northeastern state.

Qureshi will arrive to take charge of the Congress-ruled state after a "two-week break", a Raj Bhavan official said Thursday.

The 74-year-old Qureshi was transferred by President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday and appointed as Mizoram governor for the remainder of his term till May 2017.

Meghalaya Governor Krishan Kant Paul will take his place in Uttarakhand. Paul was holding additional charge as the Mizoram governor.

Qureshi had earlier filed a petition before the Supreme Court over the BJP-led government's pressure on him to relinquish his post.

"Aziz Qureshi is likely to assume office as the 15th Governor of Mizoram in the third week of January after a two-week break," a Raj Bhavan official who did not want to be named told IANS.

The successive transfers of the governors started with Vakkom B. Purushothaman when he was sent to Nagaland July 6.

Purushothaman resigned soon, claiming he was not consulted over his transfer. "Governors cannot be treated like clerks," he had said.

Former Gujarat governor Kamla Beniwal was then transferred to Mizoram.

Beniwal, 87, took charge July 9 as the 12th governor of Mizoram. However, in less than a month, she was sacked from the post Aug 6.

Former union home secretary Vinod Kumar Duggal, the then governor of Manipur, was then given the additional charge of Mizoram.

Duggal assumed office Aug 8 as the 13th governor, but resigned Aug 28.

Maharashtra governor K. Sankaranarayanan was then transferred to Mizoram Aug 24 for the remainder of his term which was scheduled to end in 2017. He resigned immediately on his transfer.

Krishan Kant Paul, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and former Delhi Police commissioner and then governor of Meghalaya, was given additional charge of both Mizoram and Manipur until his transfer orders were issued Tuesday along with those of Qureshi.

Paul took additional charge as the Mizoram governor Sep 16.

Beniwal, who had a strained relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was the Gujarat chief minister, was sacked two months before her tenure was to end.

A Congress leader in Aizawl said the National Democratic Alliance government has chosen Mizoram Raj Bhavan as a "punishment centre or a dumping ground" for governors appointed by the previous United Progressive Alliance government.

"This approach and mindset would make the constitutional posts 'childish assignments'," the Congress leader told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Politicians, civil society groups, youth and students' unions have condemned the use of the border state as a "dumping ground" for governors.

There are no permanent governors in four of the seven northeastern states -- Congress-ruled Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur and Left-ruled Tripura.

Nagaland governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya is holding additional charge of Tripura and Assam, while Paul will continue to hold additional charge of Manipur till further orders though he is transferred to Uttarakhand.

"West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has been asked to discharge the functions of the governor of Meghalaya, in addition to his own duties, till further orders," a Rashtrapati Bhavan release said.

After Narendra Modi took charge as prime minister May 26, eight governors resigned following signals from the central government. They were B.L. Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland), M.K. Narayanan (West Bengal), B.V. Wanchoo (Goa), Purushothaman (Mizoram), K. Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) and Sheila Dikshit (Kerala).

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)