Manogya Loiwal | Edited by Deepali Singh
Kolkata, January 3, 2018 | UPDATED 09:15 IST
Last week, the governor had also called CM Manik Sarkar for a meeting. The need to call for another meeting was enough to irk Sarkar, who then prohibited DGP and Chief Secretary from attending it.
Tathagata Roy and Manik Sarkar. Photo: PTIThe Chief Minister and the governor of Tripura are officially up against each other as the former directly confronted the other.
What led to this was the recent meeting called by the Governor, Tathagata Roy who invited the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to Raj Bhawan to discuss few issues which were already brought up by him in a previous meeting with the Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar.
Only last week, the governor had also called CM Manik Sarkar for a meeting. The need to call for another meeting was enough to irk Sarkar, who then prohibited DGP and Chief Secretary from attending it.
According to sources, Roy had more unanswered queries for which he had called the officials for another meeting.
At the meeting, Roy wanted to discuss the killing of BJP supporters in the state. He also wanted to get more details on the BJP-CPI(M) clash that took place in Bishalgarh.
State BJP alleges that CM Manik Sarkar feared the possibility of CS and DGP mentioning certain things in the meeting which might be used against the state government, so he tried to stop the meeting.
He in fact said that since he, as a Chief Minister, already met the Roy, there was no need for CS and DGP to meet him as well.
Though Communist Party of India (Marxist) has been opposing Roy ever since his tenure began, this is for the first time that the state government has directly gone for an open fight with the governor.
Reportedly, Roy also briefed the home ministry about this incident.
This growing indifference between the Tripura's CM and the governor has come at a time when the assembly elections are just a month away.
"It shows his frustration and anger. He barred Chief Secretary Mr. Sanjib Ranjan and Director General of Police Mr. A.K Sukla from calling on Hon'ble Governor at Raj Bhavan recently. Governor Shri Tathagata Roy wanted them to meet with him whereas Chief Minister personally prohibited them. So far, this is a rare instance in Tripura. During the meeting, governor had queries regarding BJP-CPI (M) clash at Bishalgarh, murder of journalists like Shantanu Bhowmik and Sudip Datta Bhowmik, martyrdom of BSF officer Dipak Mandal etc. Besides, he had some other questions on law and order situations. Answers of CM failed to satisfy governor. Thereafter, governor desired that CS and DGP meet him again," said Sunil Deodhar, State in charge and National Executive Member of BJP.
He added, "If Manik Sarkar does not have anything to hide, then why the undemocratic and authoritarian attitude? It clearly violates the constitutional provisions and protocol."
With this ongoing battle between Tripura's Chief Minister and governor, the upcoming state assembly elections will surely be one to watch out for.
(With inputs from Prabir Das)