Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee blocks governor Dhankhar on Twitter: 'Policy decision is the government’s responsibility, not his'

'Every day he tweets making one or the other accusation and seeks explanation from the officers. I wrote four letters to the Prime Minister seeking his removal. I was not consulted when he was appointed'

Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and CM Mamata Banerjee: File picture

Arnab Ganguly   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |    31.01.22  : Mamata Banerjee blocked Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Twitter on Monday with the Bengal chief minister announcing her move by rolling out the do’s and don’ts of a governor.

“Policy decision is the government’s responsibility, not his. He will inaugurate the Assembly sessions, garland Ambedkar’s statue, give brief speeches. If Bills are sent to him to be signed, first time he can clarify any doubts, next time he has to sign it. That is all he has to do,” said Mamata, addressing a news conference at the state secretariat in Howrah.

Having been blocked by the chief minister, the governor will not be able to see the tweets from Mamata, neither can he tag her any longer in photos that he shares.

Mamata’s blocking the Governor on the micro-blogging platform came on the same day when Trinamul MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay verbally complained to President Ramnath Kovind to remove Dhankhar from Raj Bhawan in Calcutta to save "democracy in Bengal".

“Every day he tweets making one or the other accusations and seeks explanation from the officers. I wrote four letters to the Prime Minister seeking his removal. I was not consulted when he was appointed,” Mamata said.

A week ago, the Governor in a programme at the Assembly in the presence of speaker Biman Banerjee had questioned why the state government and its officers did not respond to questions raised by him.

In recent times, the governor had raised objections on the appointments of vice-chancellors in 24 universities across the state. He had also been critical of the ruling Trinamul’s approach to post-poll violence.

“When Jyoti Basu was chief minister, Dharam Veera was removed as he did not sign few files. For more than a year, we didn’t say anything. He has stalled the appointment of Human Rights Commission chairman, Lokayukta, RTI members. People of Howrah and Bally are deprived of civic amenities because of him. Will he take decisions?” a furious Mamata asked.

Dhankhar’s tenure at Raj Bhawan, which started during Mamata Banerjee’s second term in office, has been one of an unending series of salvoes fired from both sides. The governor has been shooting off letters one after the other to the state administration including the chief minister and the chief secretary, on issues that have the potential to land the state government into a spot of trouble. 

"Mandated under Article 159 of the Constitution to ensure none in the state “blocks” Constitutional Norms and Rules of Law and those in authority “bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India," Dhankhar tweeted in response to Mamata's comments.

On Sunday, Dhankhar had tweeted, "CM ⁦@MamataOfficial is constitutionally ordained to discharge “duty” under Article 167 of constitution to impart information on Pandemic Purchase Scam and other issues. Guv conveyed that no information, once sought by him, can be screened by the Government. "

Mamata alleged on Monday that the governor orders food from a private hotel in South Calcutta. "Have we ever questioned that bill?" she asked.

Soon after Mamata's announcement, several Trinamul leaders announced on Twitter, they were blocking governor Dhankhar. 

Early in January, Mamata raised the issue of the governor questioning the state government’s appointments of some senior consultants and consultants through lateral entry before Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a virtual programme to inaugurate the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute at Rajarhat.

“We are trying to follow the advice you have given to recruit officers from outside due to the scarcity of IAS and IPS officers…. But the governor raised questions over the process. He doesn’t know that we are trying to accept the advice of the Prime Minister,” said the chief minister while speaking during the programme in the presence of Modi on January 7.

Sources aware of the development said the chief minister raised the issue to let the Prime Minister know the governor was even raising questions on initiatives taken on the basis of the Centre’s advice. “Nabanna has repeatedly expressed its displeasure over comments and activities of the governor before Delhi. As nothing has been done so far, the chief minister did not miss a chance to expose the governor,” said a senior government official.