Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar asked Thursday state ministers to concentrate on their departments instead of reacting to his statements to ‘please their boss’. He said either Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should herself react to his statements or depute a specific minister for the purpose.
Launching a counterattack, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) said Dhankhar has ‘crossed all limits’ and asked him to stop interfering in matters which are not under his jurisdiction.
According to the TMC sources, the party which has already raised the issue of the governor ‘exceeding his brief and trying to run a parallel administration in the state’ in Rajya Sabha, has sought a discussion on the issue in the Parliament.
“All ministers should stop reacting to my statements just to please their boss (Mamata Banerjee) and concentrate on their departments. I have heard junior Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya reacting to my comments. I would request her to concentrate on her department as all of us are aware of the real condition of the department,” Dhankar told reporters.
Reacting to the governor’s comment, Bhattacharya said she was not bothered about Dhankhar rating the performance.
“I am not bothered about governor rating my performance of her department. Our chief minister can advise us and guide us. We don’t need his guidance. He has crossed all limits and should stop interfering in matters which are not under his jurisdiction,” Bhattacharya said.
The governor’s statement came a day after he was shown black flags allegedly by some TMC workers on his way to Domkal in Murshidabad district to attend an event, Wednesday.
Dhankhar said he had sought a helicopter from the state government to travel to Murshidabad district but there was no response.
“Actually the state government wants to control my movement. But let me make it very clear that whatever I am doing, it is well within my constitutional limits. Others can’t dictate me,” Dhankhar had said.
The West Bengal governor and the state government have been locked in a war of words on a number of issues ranging from Dhankhar’s seating arrangement at the Durga Puja carnival to comments on his security since he rushed to Jadavpur University to ‘rescue’ Union Minister Babul Supriyo, who was heckled and manhandled by some students.
PTI