Tripura Governor’s loss proves Uttar Pradesh Governor’s gain

Chaudhury, who has never studied hotel management and has been a teacher for 13 years, was sacked by Bhandari’s successor, Siddheshwar Prasad Singh on the ground of “unsatisfactory” service on October 9 last year. She had challenged her dismissal in Guwahati High Court in November.

Bhandari came to her rescue in February this year by choosing her again for the same job at the Uttar Pradesh Raj Bhavan with four special increments.

Neither was the post advertised nor any other candidate considered for the job. Though there was a vacancy at the Raj Bhavan, Aditi was first given a job at Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), a subsidiary of Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, headed by Shashank Shekhar Singh, who was also principal secretary to the Governor at that time.

“When our search for a suitable candidate failed to yield any result in Uttar Pradesh, we looked in other states. We found Aditi’s work satisfactory,” Singh told The Indian Express today.

Singh claimed that the basic job of a lady housekeeper at the Raj Bhavan was to look after female members of the Governor’s family and of visiting dignitaries. So, the only qualification required was decent behaviour. “No advertisement is normally placed for such vacancies,” he said.

He however feigned ignorance about Aditi having been sacked from the Tripura Raj Bhavan just three months before her appointment in Lucknow. Singh, who as chairman of GMVN was instrumental in Aditi’s appointment, also claimed that she was not absorbed directly at the Raj Bhavan because her predecessor too was on deputation from GMVN. Aditi, on the other hand, claimed that she was chosen for the Raj Bhavan on the basis of applications sent by her at random to various Raj Bhavans in the East and the North-East.

Aditi herself made no bones about her proximity to Bhandari. “When in Tripura, Bhandariji gave excellent remarks in my service book. I don’t know why his successor terminated my services,” she said. A Calcutta-based vernacular newspaper reported yesterday that Aditi had “extremely cordial” relations with Bhandari. In fact, the post Aditi held in Tripura too had not been advertised. “Someone told me to apply for it and I was selected on probation for two years,” she said.

On completion of a year of service, she was allowed to continue for another year. But instead of a confirmation letter, she received her termination order on October 12 last year. Aditi’s husband, Vipach Chaudhury, an employee of the Information Department in Tripura, claimed that he enjoyed the patronage of former Tripura chief minister, Samir Ranjan Burman.