By PTI
KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s comments against him at a TMC meeting during the day were “wildest of allegations” and have no credibility.
He asked Banerjee to point out any document written by him or tweet posted by him which is in abusive language or is not justified under constitutional provisions.
Banerjee had criticised Dhankhar at a Trinamool Congress meeting during the day without naming him.
“What she has said, there is no credibility in them for me. It does not behove the chief minister to make such wild allegations,” Dhankhar told reporters here.
Banerjee had criticised Dhankhar at a Trinamool Congress meeting during the day without naming him.
The governor termed as “100 per cent factually incorrect” the chief minister’s claim that he gets food delivered from a five-star hotel in the city everyday.
“All that the chief minister said are wildest of allegations. There are abuses against me, invectives against me,” he said and asserted that nothing will deter him from the constitutional path.
He said that it is his duty to ensure that governance of the state is in accordance with the constitution and rule of law.
“For two and half years there has been total failure at your (Banerjee’s) end to perform your constitutional duty under Article 167 to give information to the governor,” he said, claiming that detail was sought from the Mamata Banerjee government in aspects where “serious allegations were made of fiscal irregularities”.
Dhankhar claimed that she has made wild allegations questioning the happenings in Raj Bhavan and hinted at telephonic tapping.
“Perception by and large is because of the present (TMC) government that people in the state have taken to telephoning only on Whatsapp, Facetime, Signal and Telegram and that is a terrifying state of affairs,” Dhankhar said.
He alleged that fear is haunting virtually every mind of the state. “You (Banerjee) are in your third term. You have today been again elected chairperson of your party. On this day I appeal to you to soul search, respond to your conscience, keep in your heart not the pursuit of power but helping the more than nine crore people of the state,” the governor said.
Dhankhar claimed that the chief minister had described a horse of the Kolkata Police, which was perhaps not in line during the Republic Day parade, as showing its back to him. “Where are we heading, are we to engage in mudslinging?” he asked.
Calling for dialogue between the governor and the chief minister, Dhankar said that he will be “happy to walk the extra mile”.
He said that Banerjee wanted to make an emotional issue of his raising the question of funding for ‘Maa Canteen’ (introduced by TMC government to provide meals for Rs 5 only) which was launched before the stipulated date of April 1, 2021.
“My point is very simple – where did the money come from? Maa Canteen was operational from mid-February to March 31, 2021 but the constitutional allocation was only from April, 2021,” he said. Replies to his questions on ‘Maa Canteen’ have to come from the government, Dhankhar said.
The governor said he is not a stakeholder in politics and claimed that the performance of the bureaucracy in the state is turning out to be a challenge to the rule of law. He will ensure that governance in Bengal is in accordance with it. “I want investment in the state. But it can come only when there is right environment, democratic values flourish, human rights blossom, there is rule of law and bureaucracy is apolitical,” the governor, who earlier attended a business chamber programme, said.
Asserting that no file is pending with him as alleged by the chief minister, Dhankhar claimed that it is the Mamata Banerjee government that has not been able to reply to issues on which he raised questions.
There is an ongoing tussle between the governor and the TMC dispensation over the issue of his assent to a bill on bifurcation of Howrah Municipal Corporation.
While TMC has claimed that the issue of his not giving assent is delaying the election to Howrah Municipal Corporation, the governor has said that questions raised by him on the bill are yet to be replied to by the government.
