Banwarilal Purohit (File Pic)
Nagpur: In a fast development, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday appointed Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Assam, to discharge the functions of the Governor of Meghalaya. The President accepted the resignation of V Shanmuganathan, as Governor of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh and appointed P B Acharya, Governor of Nagaland to discharge functions of Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.
Earlier, facing sexual harassment charges, Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan had on Thursday night resigned after a section of Raj Bhavan employees demanded his removal for “seriously compromising” the dignity of the gubernatorial office.
Nearly 100 Raj Bhavan staff had petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee, the Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking their intervention to remove the Governor and restore the dignity of Raj Bhavan. They alleged that Shanmuganathan had “seriously compromised the dignity of the Raj Bhavan and made it 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.”
Shanmuganathan, who took over as the Governor of Meghalaya in May 2015, on Thursday attended a Republic Day celebration in Arunachal Pradesh, whose additional charge he holds since November last following the removal of Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa.
A woman job aspirant had also accused the Governor of making advances when she had appeared for an interview at the Raj Bhavan.
