Dehradun, December 26
The outgoing Governor of Andhra Pradesh has been known for his unfailing courtesy, chivalry and magnanimity towards women in public, often fuelling sardonic comments and malicious gossip.ND Tiwari, the veteran Congress leader, who became a legislator of the UP Assembly in 1952 and went on to hold the office of the Chief Minister of UP on four different occasions, went out of his way to be accessible to women to whom he was invariably charming.

Although Tiwari has been a Union Cabinet Minister also, it was during his stint as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2002 to 2007 that the rumours of his alleged womanising habits started making the rounds in public. This was because he went out of his way to woo the local-level party workers, especially if they happened to be women. He distributed freebies to many of them, including ranks, but even in the little-known government bodies.

He surprised both his friends as well as political opponents by giving such positions to virtually unknown women in public or political life. Although he was equally magnanimous in giving such positions to his Congress party male leaders also.

His virtually open-door policy to women caused much embarrassment to the Congress. Women from far and near used to frequent his residence in Dehradun, including Ujjawala Sharma, daughter of former Union Minister Sher Singh from Haryana, whose son Rohit Shekhar fought a legal battle in Delhi High Court pleading that Tiwari is his father. But Tiwari was immaculate in his public dealings with general masses and officials.

A music video eventually proved Tiwari’s undoing and arguably played a major role in the defeat of the Congress. “Nauchami Narayana”, a music-video written and sung by Narendra Singh Negi, one of the most popular Garhwali singers, was a political satire on the politicians of the state. It particularly took a dig at the functioning of the then Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari. The word “Nauchami” in Garhwali dialect means ‘naughty’ and cassettes literally sold under the name ‘Naughty Narayan’.

Released in 2006, shortly before the Assembly elections, the video became a potent political weapon for the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and was played at political rallies much to the embarrassment of the Congress.

The video and audio cassettes broke all previous records of sales in Uttarakhand, particularly in the Garhwal region. More than 50,000 VCDs were sold.

Although Narendra Singh Negi, the lyricist and singer, declared that the video bore no resemblance to anyone and that it was a work of fiction, it fooled nobody. The characters were easily identifiable and people took it to be a political satire lampooning the then CM and his ways. Two of the characters in the album actually resembled Tiwari and his deputy, PWD Minister Indira Hariydesh.

The song, sung in the traditional ‘Jagar-Mandaan’ style of the hills, attacked the Congress government. Large-scale distribution of ministerial ranks and alleged misuse of Chief Ministers’ Discretionary Fund etc. were mentioned prominently in the popular video.

The character resembling the then CM is also shown dancing with young women and doing the ‘dandiya’ dance. The latest allegations against Tiwari has created a storm in his native state also. Avdhash Kaushal, chairperson of the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a non-government organisation exclaimed, “ND Tiwari has again shamed Uttarakhand”.

During his tenure in Uttarakhand, said Kaushal, Tewari had shamed all by his lavish lifestyle. RLEK planned to march to the premises of Tiwari given by the state government as former Chief Minister in the Forest Research Institute (FRI) campus in Dehradun on Sunday.