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Meghalaya governor has turned Raj Bhawan into ‘ladies club’: Letter to PM
Allegation of molestation was recently labelled against V Shanmuganathan by a job aspirant who was called with six others to the Raj Bhawan last month for interviews to fill up the post of public relations officer.
Meghalaya governor V Shanmuganathan has “seriously compromised” the dignity of his office and should be removed, employees of the Raj Bhavan have said in a letter to Prime Minister.
In the five-page letter written on Wednesday, nearly 100 employees termed Shanmuganathan as being “rude, arrogant, temperamental and untruthful”, and requested the Prime Minister to remove him for “demeaning” the position and to “restore the dignity of Raj Bhawan”.
Hindustan Times has a copy of the letter, but its authenticity could not be verified.
“I can confirm that such a letter has been sent by some employees of Raj Bhawan. But I am not aware of its exact contents,” A Lakiang, under secretary to the Governor, told HT.
The 11-point letter stated: “He has seriously compromised the dignity of the Raj Bhawan and unfortunately made the Raj Bhawan into the ‘Young Ladies Club’.”
The letter accused the Governor of telling lies, removing senior staffers at Raj Bhawan without any valid reasons and insulting and humiliating a former deputy secretary, who suffered a stroke and later died. It could not be ascertained if the official’s death was in any way connected to his alleged humiliation.
“But the worst problem is that the Raj Bhawan has now under this Governor become a place where young ladies come and go at will with direct orders from the Governor” it added.
“The security of the Governor’s House is also being seriously compromised.”
Shanmuganathan is a veteran Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist from Tamil Nadu who was appointed Governor in May 2015. In September last year, he was given additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh.
Allegation of molestation was recently labelled against Shanmuganathan by a job aspirant who was called with six others to the Raj Bhawan last month for interviews to fill up the post of public relations officer.
A news report in local papers had quoted the victim, who accused the Governor of “inappropriate advances” and “unprofessional and unfriendly behaviour” during the interview.
“I have great respect for everyone. I have not done anything wrong,” Shanmuganathan told the Shillong Times over phone from Itanagar.
Demanding the governor’s immediate dismissal, the Congress called it “disgraceful behaviour of a man who occupies one of the highest constitutional offices” in the country.
“It is indeed shocking and inappropriate. We demand his immediate dismissal,” Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said.
Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma said he is waiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the home ministry to take a call on the matter.
“We will await for what call they will take (on the complaint),” he told PTI.
“Based on whatever is available with the government, we will inform the Prime Minister and the MHA as it is our duty and responsibility.
“We fulfil our responsibility and beyond that at this juncture I will not comment further,” Sangma said.
(With inputs from PTI)
