West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday alleged that the Raj Bhavan was under surveillance and documents from his office were either leaked or being “procured”. He said he has initiated a probe and those responsible “must pay a heavy price”.
The Governor made the allegations in his address to the media at Raj Bhavan after an event marking the second death anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“I am pained to say that the Raj Bhavan is under surveillance… I will do everything to protect its sanctity. A list or paper that should not go out of Raj Bhavan without my sanction is getting circulated outside. Documents are procured. I have initiated a very serious critical probe into it. Those who have done this must pay a heavy price,” Dhankhar said.
The Governor said, “On August 14, a document was electronically shared using an app from here. That document came back to me from the highest authority of the government… Public servants cannot act like political servants. There has to be political neutrality… My internal inquiry will be completed soon enough. I will take legal steps once the inquiry is over.”
Absence of CM and officials @MamataOfficial on occasion of Independence Day celebration at Raj Bhawan has like many startled and stunned me. We need to rise to occasion as respect to freedom fighters who gave their all to secure for us freedom and democracy. Iam at loss of words. pic.twitter.com/fAUByqxTp7
— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) August 15, 2020
The ruling TMC reacted sharply to the allegations. TMC MP Sougata Roy said, “Our Governor has made unfounded allegations. If he thinks that he is under surveillance then he should give proof. The guest list is no secret. Any employee of Raj Bhavan could have accessed it.”
TMC MP Mahua Moitra tweeted, “Uncle ji now claims he & WB Raj Bhavan premises under surveillance. Believe me, that’s something your bosses from Gujarat do better than anyone else — any of us would be novices at it.”
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh backed the Governor and claimed that the police were working as informers. “The state police are working as an informer of the state government and the TMC has no work than to tap our leaders’ phones and carry out surveillance on us.”