West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan resigned on Monday, days after the CBI questioned him in the controversial AgustaWestland chopper deal. Narayanan is the fourth Governor to put in his papers since the NDA Government came to power and set in motion the process to remove some of the UPA-appointed occupants of Raj Bhavans.
Home Ministry sources said Narayanan tendered his resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee in the afternoon. Eighty-year-old Narayanan was recently questioned by the CBI as a “witness” in the VVIP helicopter deal probe. As the National Security Advisor in 2005, Narayanan attended crucial official meetings which decided to amend the technical specifications AgustaWestland choppers needed to qualify for the contract. Former chief of the Special Protection Group and current Goa Governor BV Wanchoo was also part of these meetings. The CBI is also likely to question him soon.
During the UPA regime, the CBI’s request to question Narayanan and Wanchoo was turned down by the Centre citing their gubernatorial protection. It is widely believed that the Modi Government will post a dynamic, experienced and senior party leader or retired bureaucrat to West Bengal as Governor. State BJP leaders have been at loggerheads with the Mamata Government and the law and order situation of the State is becoming alarming by the day.
Under the situation, the Modi Government is bound to be extra careful in its choice of the State’s next Governor. Among the names doing the rounds for appointment as Governors to the State where vacancies already exist are Ram Naik, lalji Tandon, Keshubhai Patel, Shanta Kumar, CP Thakur, Kalyan Singh, Kailash Joshi, Keshri Nath Tripathi etc.
Narayanan’s resignation came weeks after Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami had telephoned some of the Governors, appointed by the previous UPA regime. Nagaland Governor Ashwani Kumar, Uttar Pradesh Governor Bl Joshi and Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt have put in their papers in the last few days. However Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan turned down the Home Secretary’s message to step down. Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj and Tripura Governor Devanand Konwar retired on Saturday as they were not given an extension by the NDA regime.
Narayanan, a former IPS officer who had also served as Director of the Intelligence Bureau, was appointed as the Governor of the State in January 2010. He was a Tamil Nadu cadre officer and spent three decades of his career in the Intelligence Bureau. Narayanan was considered very close to the Gandhi family and was involved in political interlocution in the tussles between Congress and DMK on several occasions during the UPA regime. P Chidambaram’s entry into the Home Ministry forced Narayanan to exit from the post of NSA, leading to the posting as West Bengal Governor in 2010.