Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday wrote a strong letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioning her “continued silence and inaction” over post-poll violence and urged her to discuss it in the Assembly. The Home Department responded saying the contents of the letter are “not consistent with real facts”.
“With heavy heart I am constrained to observe your continued silence and inaction over post-poll retributive bloodshed, violation of human rights, outrageous assault on dignity of women, wanton destruction of property, perpetuation of untold miseries on political opponents — worst since Independence — and it augurs ill for democracy,” Mr. Dhankhar wrote to the Chief Minister.
On Monday, a delegation of the BJP comprising 51 MLAs submitted a memorandum to the Governor on the violence.
In a series of tweets, the Home Department said the communication format is violative of all established norms.
Unusual step
“The letter has been written to Hon’ble Chief Minister & released to public media through tweets simultaneously, which disrupts sanctity of such communications. The unusual step of going public in this manner abruptly and unilaterally has shocked the government of West Bengal all the more because the contents are fabricated,” the tweets said.
In the two-page letter, the Governor touched on his visit to the violence-affected areas in Nandigram and Cooch Behar last month. He described the situation as “grave human tragedy” and questioned the Chief Minister’s “stunning silence”. The communication comes before he had left for a three-day visit to Delhi where he is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“In this situation, I urge you to deliberate the issue in the Cabinet, take all steps to restore law and order, provide much-needed succour to the suffering people by engaging in compensation and rehabilitation and hold the police and administration duly accountable in an exemplary manner for its partisan stance and failure in containing violence,” the letter said. Mr. Dhankhar also accused the police and administration of “partisan stance” and “abandonment of lawful obligations”.
The Home Department said the post-poll violence was somewhat unabated when the Election Commission was in charge of the law-and-order machinery. “After the swearing in, the State Cabinet has reigned in the situation, restored normalcy and established full command over anti-law elements. The police have been firmly directed to bring to book all anti-socials and the government remains committed to maintain the basic fabric of society and to uphold law and order.”
TMC spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar said Mr. Dhankhar is trying to convey that a war is going on in Bengal like that between Palestine and Israel.
He accused the Governor of conspiring against the State government and projecting the law-and-order in a bad light.
“The Governor issues baseless comments against the State government like a BJP spokesperson.”
The relations between the Raj Bhavan and the government as well as the ruling party have been at an all-time low since the Trinamool assumed power for the third consecutive time. From the very day Ms. Banerjee was sworn in as the Chief Minister for the third time, the Governor has been raising questions on the law and order.