Governor of the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, 86-year old N. D. Tiwari, resigned a day after a television news channel (Andhra Jyothi's ABN channel)  broadcast a tape allegedly showing him in bed with three women.

The images showed an old man, purportedly Tiwari, wearing no trousers and a shirt pulled up to the neck. All three women are naked, one at his legs and the others on his upper half. One of the women is said to be seven months pregnant, another just 18 years old.

Tiwari is a veteran Congress politician, who has been a Union minister under several Prime Ministers and the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He figured in a scandal in 2008, when Rohit, the grandson of a former Union minister from Haryana, moved the Delhi high court, alleging that Tiwari was his father. In his reply to the court notice, Tiwari described Rohit’s mother, Ujjwala Sharma, as an “unchaste woman” and accused Rohit of acting at her behest.

"She as an unchaste woman had defendant 1 (Tiwari) as her paramour even during the subsistence of her marriage..." Tiwari’s reply had said.

Raj Bhavan, however, issued a denial of the reports. The counsel for the Raj Bhavan Ravishanker Jandhyala said, "There is absolutely no truth in the alleged news story which is nothing but sensation mongering."

"The alleged news story is nothing but a 'tissue of lies' and is denied," he said, adding there is no question of his resignation. "We will definitely file a defamation case. Already I have issued a notice in the afternoon (to the channel)," he added.

While the images, allegedly of Tiwari with three women in bed, shown on the Telugu channel, appear to tell all, the allegations of Radhika, a woman from Uttarakhand, are even more damning. Radhika claims to have sent these young women to the Raj Bhavan on Tiwari's request through a Raj Bhavan official. She says the octogeneranian's appetite for women is insatiable: he would ask for women in the middle of the night and also seek after-lunch sessions.

Women's rights activists, lawyers and politicians have reacted strongly to the sordid episode. Calling the governor a sexual deviant and a man who has brought shame to the office, women activists said the first citizen of Andhra Pradesh should be brought to heel immediately.

Radhika's role in the events remains hazy as she claims that Tiwari had said he would provide jobs to these young women, but used them for sexual favours instead. Radhika says that Tiwari, through an official, had promised her a mining licence in Kadapa. When he did not, she chose to expose him by leaking the video clips and photos. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Later, Tiwari claimed "health reasons" to be reason for his resignation.

Whatever be the reason but the 86-year old governor seems to be the Hugh Hefner of India? I wonder why aren't Indians proud of his virility rather than making it a big deal? What do you guys say?