NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government reportedly wants six governors appointed by its predecessor to go. Sources say feelers were snt to one of the governors, a political appointee, who has refused to quit. “The governors should resign themselves. They were appointed by Sonia Gandhi and not on merit,” said BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
Sources say the Home Ministry sees at least six governors appointed by the UPA on their way out.  Among them, reportedly, is Sheila Dikshit, who was made Kerala Governor after she led the Congress to a humiliating defeat in December’s state election in Delhi, which saw the Congress being decimated after 15 years in power.
Home Ministry sources say at least six governors seen as “out-and-out UPA appointees” are not being pressured to resign since their terms will expire in six months or less. These include the governors of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat.
But those that the new government would reportedly like to remove include the governors of Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tripura.”We will decide that our governors will resign or not. Why are they worried about changing governors?” said Congress leader PC Chacko.
In 2004, the UPA government’s decision to axe BJP-appointed governors led to a major political showdown. A BJP MP moved Supreme Court, which ruled in May 2010 that governors were not employees of the union government and cannot be removed “in an arbitrary and capricious manner with the change of power.” The court said a governor can be replaced only under “compelling” reasons of misconduct or any other irregularity.
The escalating controversy over governors comes as the Prime Minister’s Office has stopped eight ministers from appointing as their private secretaries top bureaucrats who had worked for UPA ministers.
The ministers who have been asked to pause on the appointments include Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani.

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