HE IS 86 and a veteran leader of the ruling Congress party in India.

But Mr Narain Dutt Tiwari, governor of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, was forced to quit after a local television channel aired footage of him allegedly romping with three women at his official residence.

Every Indian state has a governor who is the constitutional head and they have ceremonial functions.

The posts are generally handed out to politicians of ruling parties as a favour.

Mr Tiwari resigned on health grounds, a press statement from the governor's office said.

The resignation came a day after ABN Andhra Jyothi, a Telugu television channel, aired footage which was captured in a sting operation of an old man with three naked women in a compromising position in the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the governor.

Telugu is the language of Andhra Pradesh state.

The channel claimed the old man in the footage, who was naked from the waist down, was Mr Tiwari, Indian news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The office of the governor denied the claim and approached the Andhra Pradesh high court yesterday and got an order restraining the channel from telecasting the footage.

But by the time the order was given, the channel had already telecast the footage for an hour.

The governor's office also issued a rejoinder to the television channel on Friday and described the sex tapes as a "tissue of lies".

Stunned the nation The footage stunned the nation and political parties were quick to call for Mr Tiwari's resignation.

Meanwhile, the television visuals left little to the imagination, India Today reported.

It showed the three women and an elderly man - which the channel claimed was Mr Tiwari - almost naked and engaging in sexual acts.

The channel also aired a phone-in from a woman it identified as Radhika, and whom the channel said was from Uttarakhand state.

She made several allegations against the governor, India Today reported.

Ms Radhika claimed that she sent the women in return for mining projects she was promised, the channel said.

As the promise was not kept, she handed over some pictures taken by her.

Ms Radhika claimed that she had known Mr Tiwari since he was chief minister of Uttarakhand, and had been in touch with him for the last two years after he became governor of Andhra Pradesh.

She claimed she had taken pictures of the three young women with the governor.

The woman made the shocking allegation that Mr Tiwari would often conduct his official duties while the girls remained in his bedroom.

"There were times when the governor would meet dignitaries in the hall in the official residence while the girls were kept in his bedroom on the first floor," she told the network.

Mr Tiwari was in the news recently after a 29-year-old man, Mr Rohit Shekhar, petitioned the Delhi High Court that he was the son of Mr Tiwari and sought a paternity test to prove his claim.

The High Court, however, did not agree to the test and said the suit was not "maintainable", The Times of India reported.