West Bengal Governor tweets letter written to CM Mamata Banerjee for ‘interaction’ at Raj Bhawan

The move comes at a time when the rift between the state government and the Raj Bhawan is at a new high with the CM blocking the Governor from her official Twitter handle alleging that Dhankar is treating government officials as “his servants”.

On January 31, Banerjee blocked Dhankhar on Twitter, saying she was “forced” to do this because of his “unethical and unconstitutional ” statements. She also alleged that the Governor was acting like a “super guard” and treating government officials as “his servants”. Soon after, Dhankar stated that Banerjee’s move was against constitutional norms.

This was after the Governor raised issues on Bengal Global Business Summit, Maa Canteen, appointment of Vice Chancellor of Universities, police blocking movement of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in the state Assembly and others. The Governor also summoned the chief secretary and the DGP at Raj Bhawan where they were both conspicuous by their absence.

Later, Trinamool Congress’s Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandopadhyay urged President Ramnath Kovind to remove Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Governor.

WB Guv:

Hon’ble CM Mamata Banerjee has been urged to make it convenient for an interaction at Raj Bhavan anytime during the week ahead as lack of response to issues flagged has potential to lead to constitutional stalemate which we both are ordained by our oath to avert. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/HZrERPLzoJ

— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) February 17, 2022

The Governor Thursday tweeted, “Hon’ble CM Mamata Banerjee has been urged to make it convenient for an interaction at Raj Bhavan anytime during the week ahead as lack of response to issues flagged has potential to lead to constitutional stalemate which we both are ordained by our oath to avert.”

He added, “Impressed upon Hon’ble CM Mamata Banerjee that “Dialogue, discussion and deliberation, particularly amongst constitutional functionaries, like the Chief Minister and the Governor, are quintessential to democracy and inseparable part of constitutional governance.”’

The Governor also shared his letter written to the Chief Minister on February 15.

“All my earnest efforts in this direction have unfortunately not fructified in view of the stance at your end. Such a scenario has potential to lead to Constitutional stalemate which we both are ordained by our oath to avert,” the letter read.

It further said, “There has been no response, now for long, to issues legitimately flagged and in respect of which there is Constitutional duty at your end under Article 167 of the Constitution to impart information. There are other worrisome aspects also which call for urgent consultation.”

“I would, thus, urge you to effect response to all issues flagged thus far at the earliest and make it convenient for an interaction at Raj Bhawan anytime during the week ahead,” the letter added.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress reacted to this stating that the Governor should not have made a letter to the CM public.

“Governor may write a letter to the Chief Minister. But it is not courteous to share it on social media. This is unbecoming of his position,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh while speaking to the media.

BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya replied saying, “This is a normal process and we see no harm in it. The Governor, as the Constitutional head, can call the Chief Minister for a meeting. There are various serious issues which the Governor highlighted and the state government did not clarify.”

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “The state government and the Chief Minister are expected to hold regular dialogues with the Governor. But in Bengal, this never happens. The Governor, therefore, has to call the Chief Minister.”