The differences between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar have come to the fore again. CM Mamata blocked Governor Dhankhar on Twitter on Monday. Mamata Banerjee says she is upset by the Governor’s tweets. Mamata said in a news conference, ‘I apologize in advance for this. He (Jagdeep Dhankhar) tweets something almost every day and comments against me or my officers. They say unconstitutional and immoral things. They give instructions and advice, the elected government has become a bonded labor, so I have blocked them from my Twitter account. I am getting irritated every day.’
It is understood that Mamata Banerjee has taken this step after the latest attack by Governor Dhankhar on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. In this, Dhankhar had said, ‘I cannot see the holy land of Bengal soaked in blood and becoming a laboratory for crushing human rights. People are saying that the state is becoming a gas chamber of democracy.’
He had said in a program, ‘There is no rule of law in Bengal. Here there is only the rule of the ruler. It is my responsibility to protect the Constitution.’ The governor had also said that no ‘insult’ can stop him from performing his duty.
It is worth noting that earlier, differences had cropped up between the Governor and the CM over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s alleged instructions to the state police to ensure that the BSF does not violate the jurisdiction of 15 km from the International Border. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had called this purported directive a “potential threat” to national security.
Writing a letter to the Chief Minister, Dhankhar had appealed to Banerjee to take appropriate steps immediately and resolve the issue in public interest and national interest. In his letter in December last year, Governor Dhankhar had written – “I am very concerned about your instructions regarding BSF during the administrative meeting at Ganga Rampur on December 7, in which you have given permission to BSF within a radius of 15 km. Instructions have been given to the state police.”
