Tamilisai Soundararajan quits as Telangana governor, likely to ...
CHENNAI/HYDERABAD:
Tamilisai Soundararajan
’s resignation as
Telangana governor
was made public on Monday when PM Modi was addressing an election rally in the state’s Jagtial district.
An opinion poll among BJP members recently suggested her comeback to electoral politics was vital for the party in Tamil Nadu constituencies like Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and South Chennai.
BJP’s national leadership in consultation with party seniors, besides Modi, took a call to field her in Tamil Nadu in Lok Sabha elections, the sources said.
Tamilisai sent her resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and sent a copy to Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. Modi has been staying in Telangana Raj Bhavan since Sunday after addressing a public rally in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
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After landing in Chennai airport in evening, Tamilisai told reporters that she voluntarily resigned to take up public service. “I am returning to direct and honest politics. Upon acceptance of my resignation letter by the President, I will inform the media about my future plans,” she said.
Tamilisai said neither Modi nor Shah restricted her after she expressed her interest to return to politics. Expressing gratitude to the people of Telangana and Puducherry, she said they would continue to support her as she had quit her comfortable life for public service.
Tamilisai had unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections in Velachery and Virugambakkam in 2011 and 2016 and general elections in 2019. In the 2019 LS polls, Tamilisai lost to DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi in Tuticorin. The talks of her political re-entry have been doing the rounds since last year. Tamilisai has six more months to complete her tenure in Telangana and two years in Puducherry.
Sources said Tamilisai’s resignation was on the cards after Telangana govt transferred her principal secretary Surendra Mohan a few days ago and replaced him with senior IAS officer Burra Venkatesham.
A formal farewell by state govt may not happen due to the model election code.
