Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan resigns, may contest polls
Hyderabad: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan tendered resignation from her position on Monday. The Governor sent her resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu. She also quit as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. It is learnt that she quit gubernatorial posts to enter into active politics by rejoining the BJP and contest the Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu or Puducherry. Prior to becoming the Governor in September 2019, Tamilisai served as the president of the BJP Tamil Nadu unit.
"The Hon'ble Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Dr.Smt.Tamilisai Soundararajan has tendered her resignation with immediate effect. The resignation has been submitted to the Hon'ble President of India,” the Raj Bhavan said in a media statement on Friday.
Tamilisai assumed the office as the Governor of Telangana on September 8, 2019. Her four-and-a-half-year long tenure as the Governor was marred by a series of controversies and confrontations with the previous BRS government.
Tamilisai and the BRS government moved the High Court and Supreme Court against each other on the issue of the Governor not approving Bills passed by Assembly, Governor rejecting MLC nominations approved by the State Cabinet, the state government convening budget sessions of Assembly without the mandatory Governor's address, among other issues. There were also the issues relating to protocol violation between the Governor and the then BRS government.
Collectors and SPs are supposed to receive and see off the Governor. But they ignored the Governor whenever she undertook official visits to districts and stayed away from her. The Governor complained to the Union home ministry on protocol violations stating that officials were ignoring protocol on the directions of then chief minister Chandrashekar Rao.
The Governor rejected the nomination of BRS leader Padi Kaushik Reddy as the MLC under Governor's quota that was approved by the State Cabinet in August 2021 after keeping it pending for several months. The Governor again rejected the nomination of BRS leaders Dasoju Sravan and K Satyanarayana as MLCs under the Governor's quota even though it was approved by the State Cabinet in September 2023. Both these BRS leaders moved the High Court against the Governor and the court asked the Governor to relook into her decision. However, the file is still pending with Raj Bhavan.
Tamilisai's resignation comes on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an election rally at Jagtial in Telangana. Official sources said Tamilisai took the decision to resign after informing Modi, who had stayed put at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday night. She expressed her desire to return to active politics by fighting the Lok Sabha elections. She has been asked to be prepared to contest the Lok Sabha elections either from Tamil Nadu or Puducherry, sources added.
