The Chattisgarh Governor E S L Narasimhan (Ekkadu Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan) will take additional charge of Andhra Pradesh with immediate effect.
The change at the Andhra Pradesh Raj Bhavan was necessitated by the unceremonial departure in disgrace yesterday of N D Tiwari, after he was
caught on tape on December 25 receiving sexual favours from 3 women at the Raj Bhavan.
Telugu news channel ABN Andhra Jyothi beamed images of the romp for almost 2 hours on Christmas morning before it was strangulated by a High Court injunction. While the Raj Bhavan in an official release denied the allegations and called them a "tissue of lies", Tiwari's claim of being framed found no takers in New Delhi.
The gubernatorial posting in AP can be of crucial importance to the Union government since the state has been stricken by strife for a month now over the Telangana fracas, and constitutional impasses seem to happen with alarming regularity as ministers, MLAs and MPs routinely resign by the truckloads. There are chances, even if weak as of now, that the state might be put under President's Rule, and the Governer becomes the effective ruler then.
Tiwari was a Congress stalwart in the '80s and '90s, and came close to becoming PM in 1991 (P V Narasimha Rao sneaked past him). The TV exposé and the sex videos have led to an inglorious end to his highly successful political career.