Former Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor GC Murmu appointed new Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Former Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu was on Thursday appointed as the new Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). He replaced Rajiv Mehrishi, a 1978 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, as the CAG.

An official order read, "The President has been pleased to appoint Shri Girish Chandra Murmu to be the Comptroller and Auditor General of India with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office."

Murmu had resigned on August 5 from his post as Lieutenant Governor of the union territory. The decision came exactly a year after the Central government reorganised Jammu and Kashmir, bifurcating it into two UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Murmu will take oath on August 8 (Saturday) at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Earlier in the day, President Ram Nath Kovind accepted Murmu's resignation as the Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. 

A 1985 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Murmu was Principal Secretary to Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. 60-year-old Murmu had on October 29, 2019, taken over as the first  Lt Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

Senior BJP leader Manoj Sinha was appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir by President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday. "The President has been pleased to appoint Shri Manoj Sinha, to be the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office vice Shri Girish Chandra Murmu," said a statement released by President Kovind's office.

Born on July 1, 1959, Sinha was Minister of Communications (independent charge) and Minister of State (MoS), Railways during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first term. Sinha is a three-time BJP MP from the parliamentary constituency of Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was defeated by Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Afzal Ansari in 2019  Lok Sabha poll.