Bengal Governor MK Narayanan resigns

Nagaland Governor Ashwani Kumar, Uttar Pradesh Governor B L Joshi and Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt have put in their papers in the last few days

Days after being questioned by the CBI in connection with its probe into the Rs 3600-crore VVIP chopper deal, West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan tendered his resignation. on Monday. Narayanan, who was the former National Security Advisor (NSA) before being appointed as Governor of West Bengal in 2010, recently had to appear before CBI as a witness in connection to probe into allegations of bribery in the Rs 3600-crore VVIP chopper deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland.

As NSA Narayanan was part of the group which had gone into the tendering procedures before purchase of the helicopters.Narayanan, who was scheduled to retire next year, is one of the several governors, who has reportedly been asked to quit by Narendra Modi government. According to Raj Bhavan sources, he is likely to leave Kolkata in a day or two.

Following change of the new government, Uttar Pradesh Governor B L Joshi, Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt and Nagaland Governor Ashwani Kumar had stepped down earlier.According to reports, Goa Governor B W Wanchoo and Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit, have also been asked to step down by the Centre on grounds of need for investigations in different cases. While Narayanan was NSA, Wanchoo was head of the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) when the AgustaWestland deal was discussed during UPA regime.

Sheila Dikshit, on the other hand, was head of Delhi Jal Board as chief minister during alleged irregularities in tendering of contracts by the utility service provider.