Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday held a meeting with District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Darjeeling district and said his aim is to “ensure free and fair elections in West Bengal”.
“Functional at another work station-Raj Bhawan, Darjeeling. Siliguri CP Tripurari Atharva called yesterday and today Darjeeling SP Dr Santosh Nimbalkar and DM Shri S Ponnambalam responded. Emphasised that Political Neutrality @MamataOfficial in functioning was non negotiable,” Dhankhar tweeted on Monday. He is on a month-long visit to Darjeeling, which began on Sunday, to assess the ground realities in north Bengal.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, the Governor said, “This is the first time the DM and SP of a district have come to meet me. I have tried to make them understand that public servant cannot be political servant. As the Governor, I have many challenges to face. The first challenge is to ensure that free and fair elections are held in West Bengal. I will assure the people of the state that I will go to any extent, take extreme routes to ensure that elections are held without any violence.”
The Governor has been consistently targeting the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government over allegedly politicising the the bureaucracy and police in the state and turning them into “political servants”.
The TMC took a dig at Dhankhar for his remarks. “I cannot see what is bothering him. He said don’t play with fire. I cannot see where the fire is. In return, I will tell him not to play with his post. He has started playing a game with his posts…Playing the role of the president of a particular political party,” said TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee.