BJP leader Manoj Sinha appointed Lieutenant Governor of J&K

New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manoj Sinha was on Thursday appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, a day after G.C. Murmu in a surprise development resigned from the post exactly a year after the nullification of Article 370 in the erstwhile state, and barely nine months after he took over the reins of the newly created Union Territory.

President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Murmu as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and appointed Sinha for the post.

"The President has been pleased to appoint Manoj Sinha to be the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office vice Girish Chandra Murmu," a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement on Thursday announced.

Sinha has represented the parliamentary constituency of Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh thrice in the Lok Sabha. He was defeated by Bahujan Samaj Party's Afzal Ansari in last year's Lok Sabha polls.

Sinha has also served as junior Railway Minister.

Murmu had put in his papers on Wednesday.