Earlier, Kannan Gopinathan, who was Secretary, Power Department, of the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, submitted his resignation saying that he “wants to exercise my freedom of expression but it is not possible while I am in the service. There are certain rules and regulations in that."

Gopinathan, who hails from Kottayam District of Kerala, said that to abrogate Article 370 "is the right of an elected government", but in a democracy the people have the right to respond to such decisions.