Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan resigned on Thursday after he was allegedly accused of molesting a job aspirant. The resignation, which was accepted by President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday, came after the Raj Bahvan staff accused Shanmuganathan of inappropriate behaviour and compromising with the dignity of the Raj Bhavan.
68-year-old Shanmuganathan is an RSS activist from Tamil Nadu and was sworn in as Meghalaya Governor on May 20, 2015. He was given the additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh from September 16, 2016, after J. P. Rajkhowa was removed. Shanmuganathan was also the Governor in charge of Manipur from September 2015 to August 2016.
According to the sources, Shanmuganathan tendered his resignation after over 100 employees of the Raj Bhavan in Shillong signed a five-page letter and sent it to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Rashtrapati Bhavan demanding his resignation for “turning the Raj Bhavan into a Young Ladies Club”.
“We feel he is demeaning the position of the Head of the State. He is rude, arrogant, temperamental and untruthful. Above all, he has seriously compromised the dignity of the Raj Bhavan and unfortunately made 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 letter stated.
The women activists of Shillong begun a signature campaign seeking Shanmuganathan’s removal. The campaign, which was spearheaded by women-led Civil Society Women Organisation (CSWO) and Thma-u-Rangli (TUR), was launched after reports of inappropriate behaviour with a job aspirant by the Governor was carried out by a local newspaper. The woman had accused the governor of making advances when she appeared for an interview at the Raj Bhavan. She also claimed that the ex-Governor personally called her for a meeting and sent her a message to confirm the meeting.
The other employees of raj Bahavan also alleged that they were going through “severe humiliation, mental stress and torture” since Shanmuganathan took over as Governor.
The Congress on Thursday demanded an immediate removal Shanmuganathan from the post and alleged that he had turned Raj Bhavan into ‘scandal Bhavan.’
“The Government of Meghalaya has turned the Raj Bhavan into scandal Bhavan. We demand he be immediately sacked as he has brought a bad name to the country on Republic Day,” said the Congress.
