HYDERABAD: T-trouble took a back seat in Andhra Pradesh with another form of T-trouble grabbing centre stage Telangana mania was drowned out on christmas day as a full fledged sex scandal involving raj bhavan was aired by the abn andhra jyothi...
It played visuals of an old man purported to be the former Union finance minister and current Andhra Pradesh governor, N D Tiwari, in bed with two young women. While the man was without his pajamas, the two women were without a shred of clothing.
Although the telecast was stopped after some time with officials of the governor's office obtaining a restraint order from a division bench of the High Court, the damage had already been done.
Women's groups swung into action and protested outside the Raj Bhavan, even as leading lights of the city demanded the immediate sacking of the 86-year-old Narain Datt Tiwari.
The Governor's office issued a statement that the tapes displayed were "fabricated and untruthful", but the public outcry did not die down with an effigy of Tiwari being burnt outside the Raj Bhavan.
Tiwari was in the news recently after a 29-year-old boy Rohit Shekhar -- grandson of a former union minister Sher Singh -- petitioned the Delhi High Court that he was the "natural son" of Tiwari and sought a paternity test to prove his claim. The High Court, however, did not agree to the test and said the suit was not "maintainable".
Tiwari's lawyers had argued that the case had been time barred because the petitioner should have moved court when he turned 18.
"We have a woman President and and another managing the biggest party in the country. We will petition them to take stern action against this man," said V Sandhya of the Progressive Organisation of Women. Tiwari has been holding high public offices since the mid-'70s as chief minister of UP, Union minister of commerce and finance and chief minister of Uttaranchal.
An angry office bearer of the All India Democratic Women's Association Jyothi said that if a government officer is involved in such scandals he is suspended. "But such action is not taken against a person who holds such a high constitutionalposition and has bismirched the highest office with this cheap act," she added.
TDP's Chandrababu Naidu -- on the backfoot for the last few days because of the Telangana agitation -- was quick to seize the opportunity to demand Tiwari's ouster but the state government, thrown into a tizzy, preferred to keep quiet. " I cannot comment on the matter until it is clear that the TV grab is not doctored," said AP's information minister Geetha Reddy. "The government has not discussed the issue. As home minister, I cannot comment on it as the governor is our constitutional head," said home minister Sabita Indra Reddy.
But managing director of ABN Andhra Jyothi Vemuri Radhakrishna when told about allegations that the tapes were doctored, told TOI: " Neither the news story nor the tapes are fabricated. Neither is it for sensation mongering." He added: "Offices like that of the Governor are exemplary and it's sickening to see a person holding such a high office behave in such a manner... I am prepared to face any conseqences. We are trying to get the court stay vacated."
Late in the evening Tiwari's office gave out another statement asserting that he would continue to discharge his constitutional duties "without fear or favour". Pointing out that he "was in the evening of life," the statement said that today being Christmas, the Governor wished "amity, foregiveness and true brotherhood" to prevail amongst people.
Regards,
mark
