New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 8 (IANS): President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan amid speculation that he will be the BJP candidate in Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha elections.

A communique from the Rashtrapathi Bhavan on Friday said the President had accepted the resignation of Rajasekharan.

"The President is pleased to appoint Jagdish Mukhi, Governor of Assam, to discharge the functions of the Governor of Mizoram, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements for the office of the Governor of Mizoram is made," it said.

Rajasekharan was the Kerala BJP President when he was appointed the Mizoram Governor last year.

"I have resigned as the party wished that I should be in Kerala. I also wished to be in Kerala and hence I have quit," Rajasekheran told a Kerala TV channel on Friday.

State BJP President P.S. Sreedharan Pillai said: "This is happy news for the BJP and Sangh Parivar forces."

In 2016, Rajasekharan put up a close fight and finished a close third in the Vatiyurkavu Assembly constituency in the Thiruvananthapuram district. When the Congress won the seat, the CPI-M candidate finished second.