Cooch Behar/Kolkata: Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was greeted with black flags by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters during his visit to Sitalkuchi last week. His car was mobbed by TMC members quite a few times following which the governor admonished the Dinhata inspector-in charge (IC). BJP MP Nisith Pramanik, who accompanied Dhankhar, was seen asking police to lathicharge the mob and make way for the Governor.
The Governor’s visit to Sitalkuchi, where four persons were killed in firing by the CISF on April 10 during the fourth phase of polling in Bengal, also evoked sharp criticism from TMC, which asked if “Raj Bhavan was exceeding Constitutional norms and acting on a post-poll script authored by PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, who were still unable to accept their miserable defeat in the just-concluded Bengal polls.”
Dhankhar blamed inadequate police arrangements made during his journey via Dinhata. “I am being gheraoed repeatedly,” he told the police. “Trinamool rogues came in my way. It points to collapse of the rule of law,” said Dhankhar, adding that he had never dreamt of such a “nanga raj” in Bengal. Dhankhar said he saw the pain of people as houses had been looted and materials stored for marriages had not been spared. “Even items stored for last rites were looted,” the Governor said in Sitalkuchi.
Earlier in the day, Dhankhar visited Mathabhanga area’s Choto Khater Bari, where houses of BJP workers had been vandalised. “In a democracy, all have the right to move. It is my constitutional duty,” he said in Mathabhanga in response to the chief minister’s letter that the head of state was overstepping his brief by deciding his itinerary without holding prior consultations with the council of ministers.
In Kolkata, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha said: “The West Bengal governor is acting according to a script provided to him by Modi and Shah, who have not yet accepted their miserable defeat in the elections and who have no respect for the Constitution of India. They will never leave Mamata Banerjee in peace.”
MP Saugata Roy said, “He has shattered to pieces all constitutional norms and decorum. The Governor may have forgotten the constitutional provisions from Article 153 to 162, which makes it incumbent that he acts on the advice of the chief minister and her council of ministers. He has blatantly violated that by proceeding to Cooch Behar, without the consent of the state, and levelling imaginary charges against the chief minister,” said Roy.
“Why would a BJP MP accompany him? Is he there to serve the interest of people or a political party? We had earlier met the President against him. If our party leader wants, we will move again. This is unpardonable,” Roy added.
