Kamla Beniwal denies wrongdoing, insists she abided by law

Sacked Mizoram Governor Kamla Beniwal today denied any wrongdoing and claimed she had abided by the law in whatever she had done. "Meine jo kam kiya, kaidey kanoon se kiya (whatever I have done, have done in accordance with law)," Beniwal told reporters at the NSC Bose International Airport here. Beniwal, who was sacked as Mizoram Governor on Wednesday just two months before her tenure was to come to an end, arrived here from Aizawl this evening.

Beniwal, 87, as the Governor of Gujarat had a running battle with Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat chief minister. The NDA government came under attack yesterday over the sacking of Beniwal with the opposition parties calling it "political vendetta", a charge it rejected by saying the action followed "serious allegations" against her and insisted there was no politics behind it.

Rejecting allegations of political vendetta, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said there was "no politics" behind the decision. The minister said "there are serious allegations. The government has taken note of them and taken action." Congress leader Manish Tewari dubbed Beniwal's removal as a "classic case of political vendetta" and said the action was not in line with the Supreme Court judgement on removal of Governors.