Girish Chandra Murmu resigned from the Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) on Wednesday, 5 August 2020, the day marking a year since New Delhi’s decision to strip the region’s special status.
Mr. Murmu was appointed as the first Lt Governor of J-K on 31 October 2019 after New Delhi broke down the erstwhile state into two union territories in August 2019. The Government of India had clamped down on the region and detained thousands of people, including civilians and prominent unionists.
Mr. Murmu had presided Satya Pal Malik, who served as the last governor of J-K, a position that was abolished after constitutional changes were imposed on J-K.
He is an IAS officer of 1985 batch, worked as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s additional principal secretary during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister. He was due for retirement on 30 November 2019.