New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday accepted the resignation of V. Shanmuganathan as governor of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Allegations were levelled against Mr Shanmuganathan for “seriously compromising” the dignity of the office of governor.
A statement issued by the press secretary to the President, Venu Rajamony, said, “The President has accepted the resignation of Mr Shanmuganathan.”
“The President of India is pleased to appoint Banwarilal Purohit, governor of Assam, to discharge the functions of the governor of Meghalaya and Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya, governor of Nagaland, to discharge the functions of the governor of Arunachal Pradesh, in addition to their own duties, until regular arra-ngements for the offices of the governor of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh are made,” the statement added.
The home ministry had received Mr Shanmuganathan’s resignation on Friday morning following which it was immediately forwarded to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mr Shanmuganathan, 67, had tendered his resignation as the governor after nearly 100 Raj Bhavan staffers in Shillong had petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Rajnath Singh and sought their intervention to remove the governor and “restore the dignity of Raj Bhavan”.
In their petition to the Raj Bhavan, employees had alleged that Mr Shanmuga-nathan had “seriously compromised the dignity of the Raj Bhavan making it into a young ladies club”.
“It has become a place where young ladies come and go at will on direct orders of the governor. Many of them have direct access to his bedroom,’’ the employees had stated in their petition to the Centre.
Following these serious allegations, some women activists had begun a signature campaign seeking Mr Shanmuganathan’s removal. A campaign, led by the Civil Society Women Organisation and Thma u Rangli, was started after reports of inappropriate behaviour by the governor emerged.
The employees, in their petition, had also claimed that a woman job aspirant had also accused the governor of making advances when she appeared for an interview at the Raj Bhavan.
