| "The President has directed that the four governors shall cease to hold the office of governor of their respective states," a terse Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said. |
| Parmanand, who had created a controversy by issuing a statement praising former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at an official function during the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, was said to be away in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. |
| Apparently, the Cabinet took an unpublicised decision to recommend the sackings to President APJ Abdul Kalam, which was conveyed to him by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh three days ago. |
| The All India Congress Committee and party leaders have held several rounds of meetings to help party President Sonia Gandhi finalise the names of the replacements. |
| TV Rajeshwar, a former bureaucrat, is likely to be appointed governor in Uttar Pradesh. General MM Lakhera, convenor of the ex-servicemen's cell, could be appointed governor in Pondicherry, and Rajya Sabha MP from Delhi AR Kidwai may be given charge of Haryana. |
| Former Nagaland Chief Minister SC Jamir has already been offered the governorship of Goa. The Congress is also toying with the idea of appointing former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh as governor in Gujarat. |
| However, the party is afraid this may help Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi consolidate his position in the state. For now, Maharashtra Governor Mohammed Fazal will look after Goa, Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar will handle Gujarat, Punjab Governor OP Verma will oversee Haryana and Uttaranchal Governor Sudarshan Aggarwal will take care of Uttar Pradesh. |
| The BJP today came down heavily on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for its decision to sack four governors appointed by the NDA. BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley said the removal of the governors was "a gross constitutional impropriety". |
| "Unless there is a compelling reason for the removal of governors, the pleasure of the President cannot be withdrawn after the appointment of a particular governor," he said. Jaitley added that after the Emergency there had been a trend wherein governors were sacked or put in their papers en masse. |
| "This trend was sought to be reverted in the last 10-12 years, so the NDA government did not remove any governor without due consultation with the chief ministers, nor was any appointment made arbitrarily," said Jaitley. |
| He added that the government's preoccupation with appointing its favourites to prominent positions shows it in a bad light. "This is a government of patronage not policy," he said. |
| He added that the government's preoccupation with appointing its favourites to prominent positions shows it in a bad light. "This is a government of patronage not policy," he said. The sacking of the four governors also gave rise to speculation as to why Madan Lal Khurana of Rajasthan and Rama Jois of Bihar were spared the axe. |
| According to the BJP, the two might be axed very soon, in the "second lot", although many in the party feel that sacking Khurana or Jois does not suit the Congress. "With Bihar elections in sight, maybe the Congress wants a governor like Jois to keep Laloo Yadav in check, as for Khurana, it is better for the Congress if he is Jaipur rather than Delhi, where he could create a few problems for them," said a senior leader. |
| "In the four states where governors were sacked, there are compelling political reasons," said the leader. |
| The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also got into the act. While acknowledging that some of the governors sacked today were associated with the Sangh Parivar, it said this, however, could not justify their "undemocratic" removal. |
| "There is nothing wrong in RSS-associated swayam sevaksbeing governor," RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said here. |
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