A relieved Congress Saturday welcomed the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Governor N.D. Tiwari in the wake of an alleged sex romp with three women in the Hyderabad Raj Bhavan that was caught on video.

'I think he has taken the appropriate decision keeping in view the high standards of public life. We welcome it,' Congress media department chief Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters here.

'I think he does not want to hold on to office till it is proved whether the video is true or false,' Dwivedi added.

Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi went a step further to state that the Congress had acted on moral principles, irrespective of the legal guilt.

'The Congress has repeatedly shown that it acts on moral principles irrespective of legal guilt. Tiwari disputes all charges and has an injunction in his favour. Yet, he has acted on moral principles as Shivraj Patil and R.R. Patil acted on moral principles,' he said.

Shivraj Patil had resigned as the union home minister and R.R. Patil as the Maharashtra home minister after 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Singhvi also wondered if leaders now in the opposition had acted on moral principles in the wake of demands for their resignations when they were in power.

'How any times they have done it is an interesting contrast,' he said, referring to demands for resignation of Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani as home minister after the 2001 attack on parliament.

Congress sources said the party was keen on an early end to the unsavoury controversy and Tiwari was sounded about the party's view that his position had become untenable.

Sources said that a meeting was held at the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday afternoon on this issue.

The Congress leadership has been trying hard to find an acceptable solution to the Telangana issue and could not have afforded an embarrassing controversy relating to the Andhra Pradesh governor.

An early end to the controversy was also vital for the Congress because the party is launching its 125th anniversary celebrations Monday and could not have allowed the event to be overshadowed, party sources said.