Hyderabad: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan tendered her resignation on Monday. According to sources, she is likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu.
She also resigned from the post of Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Tamilisai sent her resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu today.
Speaking to reporters at the airport here hours after Telangana Raj Bhavan announced that she had tendered her resignation, Tamilisai said there “was no pressure to do so (quit).”
She underlined that she enjoyed her days in the gubernatorial post as a “people’s governor.”
“No, there was no pressure (to quit). I resigned of my own volition as my desire is to serve the public directly. I want to involve myself in intense public service,” the former BJP Tamil Nadu president said.
She said she had quit the “luxurious life” of a governor and said, “People will understand my love.”
Asked what her next course of action would be in the wake of speculations that she might contest the April 19 Lok Sabha polls from Tamil Nadu, she said she would spell out her plans later. “My resignation has to be accepted first. Let that happen, I will disclose to you about my future plans later,” she said.
She said she had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of her decision to resign from her constitutional posts. “They know what I desire,” she added.
Second governor of Telangana
Tamilisai Soundararajan served as the second governor of Telangana. She assumed the office of Telangana governor on September 8, 2019.
Since February 18, 2021, she also served as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry.
Earlier, Tamilisai was the National Secretary and Tamil Nadu State Unit President of the BJP.
Who appoints governors?
The governor of any state, including Telangana, is appointed by the President of India. So far, Telangana, which was formed on June 2, 2014, has seen two governors.
Following is the list of governors of Telangana along with their tenures:
- ESL Narasimhan (From June 2, 2014, to September 7, 2019)
- Tamilisai Soundararajan (From September 8, 2019, to March 18, 2024).
The governors of states are the nominal heads and representatives of the President of India. Though they are appointed for 5 years, their term is not fixed as they can be removed earlier.
The outgoing Governor has had her fair share of controversies in the state with the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. More recently, her decision to not accept two BRS nominees for two vacant MLC positions under the Governor quota was quashed by the Telangana High Court. The hearing bench had said that the Governor must abide by the state cabinet recommendations. The court had also scrapped the names of two others who the current Congress had nominated instead of the BRS names.
