Srinagar, August 6: Former union minister, Manoj Sinha, has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Jammu and Kashmir, according to an statement by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor designate Manoj Kumar Sinha would be administered the oath of office on Friday at Raj Bhavan here.

Highly placed sources in government said that Chief Justice of the Common High Court of J&K and Ladakh would administer the oath at 12: 30 pm here under the provisions of the Constitution of India.

“The warrant of appointment of Sinha will be read out by Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam,” they said.

Sinha, who replaced Girish Chandra Murmu as LG of J&K, arrived at Srinagar this afternoon, hours after his appointment as LG of J&K by the President of India.

“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,” reads a press release issued by the President’s secretariat.

The communiqué also states that the resignation of Girish Chandra Murmu as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir has been accepted.

At the Srinagar airport, Sinha was received by advisors to LG, J&K Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, DGP Dilbagh Singh and other officials from civil administration, police and paramilitary forces.

Sinha, a politician from Uttar Pradesh, is a three-time MP from Ghazipur and served as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways.

He has a B.Tech and M.Tech degree in civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi (earlier called IT-BHU). He was made the minister of State for Railways in May 2014. In July 2016, during the second cabinet reshuffle, he was also made Minister of State (independent charge) of the Communications Ministry.

The appointment of Sinha as LG of J&K is seen as an attempt by the BJP-led Central government to reach out to major political players in Kashmir.

“New Delhi is serious in engagement with all major political players in J&K. There is thinking within different political and security circles that manufactured and invented parties won’t make any impact on the political landscape in J&K,” a source disclosed.

This is the third time since 1965 when a politician would hold gubernatorial position in J&K. Before him, two politicians have held the position in J&K.

Karan Singh (1965-1967) and Satya Pal Malik (2018-19) were only two politicians to hold the position in J&K—(KNO)