With his name doing the rounds among those having been nudged by the NDA Government to step down, Nagaland Governor Ashwini Kumar on Friday said he did not get any communication from the Centre, but was ready to put in his papers if asked to do so. This, even as the Congress said that the Government should leave it to the Governors to decide whether to continue in their posts or resign.
“No one has asked me. But if any order comes, I will follow it,” he told reporters here after a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Sources described the meeting as a courtesy call and said the issue of Kumar’s resignation did not figure in the discussion. Kumar was CBI Director when the agency had arrested BJP general secretary Amit Shah in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake encounter killing case in Gujarat.
Former Finance Minister P Chidamabaram said, “There is a case of intervention only where there is proven misconduct.”Holding that while some people may want to resign voluntarily and some others may prefer to continue till their term ends, Chidambaram said, “If I were the Prime Minister, I would have appreciated both the views” of a person who wanted to quit voluntarily or complete his term.
He was holding the AICC briefing. Having himself served as the Home Minister, he said the laws on removal of Governors have become stringent after the Supreme Court verdict in May, 2010.Asked, whether he sees a political vendetta by the NDA Government in asking Governors or chairpersons of various Government bodies to quit, Chidambaram said, “I do not know how many Governors and chairpersons have been asked to resign.”