Kamla Beniwal sacked as Governor of Mizoram

NEW DELHI: The Centre has sacked Mizoram governor Kamla Beniwal, with a little over two months left for her tenure to end. She was shifted to Aizwal Raj Bhavan from Gandhinagar on July 6. Manipur governor Vinod Kumar Duggal has been given charge of Mizoram.

Though the official statement did not mention any reasons for her removal, senior government officials said the Centre had considered allegations of ‘misuse of official aircraft’ during her tenure as Gujarat governor.

A report submitted to the Centre a fortnight ago alleged that she had used a nine-seater Super King Beechcraft 200 of the Gujarat government to fly out of the state 63 times in 3 years, mostly to her home town, Jaipur. She had flown 53 times to Jaipur and spent 500 days outside the state after being made Gujarat governor in 2009, the report said. Beniwal had taken on Narendra Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat. Beniwal had sought expenditure details for Modi’s Sadbhavna Fast in 2011.

The acrimony intensified when she appointed Justice RA Mehta as Lokayukta of Gujarat despite Modi’s reservations. His government appealed to the high court and later the Supreme Court which upheld the appointment. However, Justice Mehta did not take up the post and the government named a new nominee.

Beniwal also sat over legislations passed by the state assembly one of which provided for 50% reservation for women in local bodies. Soon after the Modi government assumed office, some governors were forced to resign.