Narendra Modi heat may discomfort five governors

NEW DELHI: After the Congress's humiliating defeat in Lok Sabha elections, all members of the Planning Commission have submitted their resignations to PM Manmohan Singh, paving the way for BJP's prime minister-designate Narendra Modi to reconstitute the planning body.

With a BJP-led government set to take charge, the fate of UPA appointed governors also seems uncertain, considering that the UPA sacked governors appointed during the NDA regime when it came to power in 2004.

The governors who may have to quit include Gujarat's Kamla Beniwal as she shared a bitter relationship with the Modi-led government in the state and her Karnataka counterpart H R Bhardwaj, who was at loggerheads with former CM B S Yeddyurappa.

A change in the government at the Centre has left many of these senior Congress leaders such as Kerala governor Sheila Dikshit, her UP counterpart B L Joshi and Shivraj Patil in Punjab worried about their future.

Though many believe governors cannot be compelled to quit as there is no legal obligation on them to resign without the completion of their tenure, UPA had asked NDA-appointed governors to leave office in 2004 after coming to power at the Centre.

Even in Congress, a section feels that these governors should have quit as soon it became clear that Modi was going to form the government at the Centre.

The resignation of plan panel members, however, is routine as their term is co-terminus with the government. As per the practice, all members submit their resignations after the general elections to the PM, who is chairman of the planning body.

The commission was headed by deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and other full time members were B K Chaturvedi, Saumitra Chaudhuri, Syeda Hameed, Narendra Jadhav, Abhijit Sen, Mihir Shah, K Kasturirangan and Arun Maira.

The C Rangarajan-headed PM's economic advisory council also submitted its resignation on Monday.