Hyderabad, December 27: Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari has made an ignominous exit.
A day after a television channel, ABN Andhra Jyothi, telecast footage showing 86-year-old Tiwari in the company of some call girls, the Governor sent in his resignation to President Pratibha Patil citing “health grounds”.
Raj Bhavan dismissed the channel’s report as false and fabricated but it was clear that Tiwari would find it difficult to hold the high office any longer considering the acute embarrassment caused to the Government and the Congress.
Almost all political parties in the State demanded his resignation or removal, and women’s groups continued to stage demonstrations.
According to sources, Tiwari faxed his res – ignation to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan soon after the Centre received a report from the State Government on the episode on Saturday afternoon.
Raj Bhavan had tried to block telecast of the story by moving the High Court but, by the time the restraint order was passed by a division bench, it was already on air.
The channel claimed that Raj Bhavan had been converted into a centre for illegal sexual activities. One of the women, whose recorded voice was broadcast along with the footage, alleged that young girls from different parts of the country were lured by Raj Bhavan officials with promises of jobs and contracts, but they were ultimately used to “satisfy” Tiwari.
Editor-in-chief of ABN Andhra Jyothi Vemuri Radhakrishna said the channel had evidence to back what it had shown.“Let them serve defamati on notice. We are ready to deal with the issue.” This is not the first controversy that Tiwari has landed himself in. Some time ago, a lawyer, Rohit Sharma, had filed a case in the Delhi High Court claiming he was born of an intimate relationship between his mother and Tiwari.
The court, however, dismissed the case as time-barred.
AICC member Janardhan Dwivedi reacted to Tiwari’s resignation on expected lines. “Tiw ari has taken an appropriate decision keeping in view the high traditions of public life,” he said.
The Centre had, in fact, been toying with idea of replacing Tiwari, given his physical inactivity because of age, and the TV channel expose only hastened the decision. Tiwari, who has served as Chief Minister of the undivided Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, took over as AP Governor in August 2007.
–IANS-