24 hours have passed since the
Supreme Court decision came to revive the conspiracy charge against senior BJP
leaders LK Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar and others
in the Babri Masjid demolition case. After the Supreme Court ruling came, Joshi
went to meet Advani; Uma Bharti said there was no conspiracy and everything was
done openly and she was ready to go to jail or face hanging for the Ram Temple;
while Vinay Katiyar put the CBI in the dock. Katiyar reiterated Uma Bharti's
stand that everything was done openly and it was, indeed the CBI, that should
be questioned here.
But Kalyan Singh, one of core
pillars of the Ayodhya movement has not reacted yet. He was Uttar Pradesh's
chief minister when the Babri demolition had happened and he is seen as a key
figure here. But he will escape the trial because of the constitutional
immunity he enjoys while being the Governor of Rajasthan. Now it is up to
Kalyan Singh whether he resigns to face the trial or the central government
asks him to do so.
But there are other state
governors who had to resign while in office owing to allegations and charges,
ranging from sex scandals to involvement in corruption and misuse of the
Governor's office.
MEGHALAYA GOVERNOR V
SHANMUGANATHAN: JANUARY 2017
Meghalaya Governor V
Shanmuganthan was forced to resign on January 26 this year after a relentless campaign
by his Raj Bhavan staff alleging him of indulging in sexual misconduct. His
employees had sent a petition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that had accused
him of running a young ladies club in the Raj Bhavan.
GOA GOVERNOR B V WANCHOO:
JULY 2014
Goa Governor BV Wanchoo had
to resign after his CBI interrogation in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. After
West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan, Wanchoo became the second state Governor
who had to quit the office due to Agusta allegations. Wanchoo faxed his
resignation on July 4, 2014. A former IPS officer, he was hearing the SPG when
the Agusta deal was finalized.
WEST BENGAL GOVERNOR M K
NARAYANAN: JUNE 2014
Like B V Wanchoo, West Bengal
Governor M K Narayanan, too, resigned from the office on June 30, 2014 after
his CBI interrogation in the Agusta scam. Narayanan was the National Security
Advisor and was part of meetings that decided on the bid criteria that allegedly
helped AgustaWestland. He was quizzed as a witness.
ANDHRA PRADESH GOVERNOR ND
TIWARI: DECEMBER 2009
His was a spectacle. The
86-year old veteran Congress leader and a multiple times chief minister was
shown in a compromising position with three young women. TV channels ran
marathon coverage of it that embarrassed the Congress leadership and it was
certain that Tiwari would be removed from the Raj Bhavan. Forced and cornered,
he had no other option but to resign on December 26, 2009.
JHARKHAND GOVERNOR PRABHAT
KUMAR: JANUARY 2002
His past came to haunt him
and finally forced him to resign on January 31, 2002. Prabhat Kumar was alleged
of misusing his office while he was Cabinet Secretary during 1999-2000. Controversial businessman and Flex Industries
chairman Ashok Chaturvedi had alleged in his confession before the CBI that he
had funded parties at Kumar's official residence in Delhi and had extended him
hospitality regularly.
UTTAR PRADESH GOVERNOR
MOTILAL VORA AND KERALA GOVERNOR P SHIV SHANKAR: MAY 1996
These both senior Congress
leaders had to resign from their Gubernatorial offices after prima facie
evidence against them in the Hawala scandal was found. Motilal Vora, senior
Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister was Uttar Pradesh's
Governor, while P Shiv Shankar, former law minister of Indira Gandhi, was
Kerala's Governor. According to the book, Democracy in India By Shree
Govind Mishra, Vora and Shiv Shankar faxed their resignations to the President
of India in the night of May 1, 1996 after the CBI told the Supreme Court that
the constitutional immunity was the only reason that they could not be charge-sheeted.
Their resignations were accepted and May 3, 1996 was their last day in their
respective Raj Bhavans though both of them, along with many others named, were
later acquitted from the Hawala case due to lack of evidence.
HIMACHAL PRADESH GOVERNOR
SHEILA KAUL: APRIL 1996
Sheila Kaul, Jawaharlal
Nehru's sister-in-law and PV Narasimha Rao's Urban Development Minister, was
forced to resign on April 21, 1996 after a PIL in the Delhi High Court alleged
her of misusing her office to make monetary gains with out-of-turn allotment of
government houses.
HIMACHAL PRADESH GOVERNOR
GULSHER AHMED: NOVEMBER 26, 1993
Among many who faced the
wrath of Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan for breaking the law was
Himachal Pradesh's Governor Gulsher Ahmed, a Congress parliamentarian. He had
begun his Gubernatorial term on June 30, 1996 but it was cut short only after
six months, on November 26, 1993, after it was found that he was misusing his
office by campaigning for his son who was contesting from the Satna
constituency in Madhya Pradesh on Congress (I) ticket. The Election Commission,
headed by Seshan, cancelled the Satna polls on this ground.
MAHARASHTRA GOVERNOR KONA
PRABHAKAR RAO: APRIL 2, 1986
The infamous Bombay University
MD (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) exam scandal of 1986 forced both, Maharashtra's
Chief Minister Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar and Maharashtra's controversial Governor
Kona Prabhakar Rao, to resign. CM's daughter Chandrakala had already failed the
MD exam thrice and her father colluded with some university officials to get
her through the exam. Objections on it were raised and a plea in the Bombay
High Court was filed which found that the MD results were manipulated after
interference of Patil-Nilangekar and his daughter.
Governor Rao pitched in,
trying to influence the Bombay University vice-chancellor and other concerned
officials to toe the line to save the CM. Governor Rao had had an already
controversial run in the Bombay Raj Bhavan with widespread allegations that he
misused his office for monetary gains. During his time, some senior Congress
(I) leaders even termed him the worst Governor Maharashtra had ever seen. But
when his name prominently figured in the MD exam scandal that cost the CM his
office, he could not escape the heat any further and April 2, 1986 became his
last day in the Raj Bhavan after a short tenure that he had begun on May 30,
1986.
©SantoshChaubey
