News Analysis India

Tag: Bengal Governor

  • Bengal: CM Mamata Banerjee dials new Governor, exchanges pleasantries

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called up C V Ananda Bose, the newly appointed governor of the state, and exchanged pleasantries with him, a senior official in the secretariat said on Saturday.

    Banerjee telephoned Bose on Friday evening and spoke with him for around 10 minutes and they exchanged pleasantries during the conversation, the official told PTI.

    Bose, a retired IAS officer, is yet to assume office as the new governor of West Bengal.

    He replaced Manipur Governor La Ganesan, who had been holding the additional charge of West Bengal since July after his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar was nominated as the vice presidential candidate by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

    Incidentally, the state government and Dhankhar were at loggerheads over several issues, including the law and order situation, since he assumed office in July 2019.

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called up C V Ananda Bose, the newly appointed governor of the state, and exchanged pleasantries with him, a senior official in the secretariat said on Saturday.

    Banerjee telephoned Bose on Friday evening and spoke with him for around 10 minutes and they exchanged pleasantries during the conversation, the official told PTI.

    Bose, a retired IAS officer, is yet to assume office as the new governor of West Bengal.

    He replaced Manipur Governor La Ganesan, who had been holding the additional charge of West Bengal since July after his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar was nominated as the vice presidential candidate by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

    Incidentally, the state government and Dhankhar were at loggerheads over several issues, including the law and order situation, since he assumed office in July 2019.

  • Bengal Governor forced to cut short address in Assembly amid ruckus by BJP legislators 

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The opening session of the newly constituted West Bengal Assembly on Friday got off to a stormy start as Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was forced to cut short his inaugural speech amid ruckus by opposition BJP MLAs who took offence after finding “no mention” of post-poll violence in the address. 

    The Governor arrived at the Assembly and was received by Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay. He started reading out the address and skipped the middle portion of it. While concluding, Dhankhar read out the portion where it was mentioned that a section of the group in society is trying to divide people of Bengal and obstructing the state government’s beneficiary schemes, and that’s when the BJP legislators started shouting. Dhankhar could barely speak for four minutes as BJP MLAs, carrying posters and pictures of alleged victims of post-poll violence, rushed to the well of the House to stage a protest. To counter them, TMC MLAs, too, shouted denying BJP’s allegations.     

    According to the Assembly sources, the Governor began his speech at 2 pm and ended it at 2.04 pm, as his voice became inaudible.  Amid sloganeering, Dhankhar tabled the speech after reading a few lines from an 18-page address approved by the state Cabinet.

    “There was no mention of post-poll violence in the Governor’s speech which happened after the counting of the election results. Surprisingly, in the draft, it was mentioned that there was no post-poll violence in Bengal. We felt that it may be possible that he was saddened with the content of the speech drafted by the CM and that is why he cut short his speech,’’ said Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.On June 28, after returning from his north Bengal trip, Dhankhar said he had requested the CM to make changes to the speech but she turned down the proposal saying it was approved by her cabinet.  

  • Mamata-Governor faceoff intensifies as Dhankhar visits violence-hit areas

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Intense face-off between West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee broke out on Friday after she wrote to him criticising his decision of visiting the areas from where incidents of post-poll violence was reported. 

    Mamata also accused the governor of dictating the state officials in excess of his power under the Constitution and by bypassing the chief minister and her council of ministers.

    In reply, Dhankhar tweeted: “It was no time for optics for playing to gallery when we in the midst of of unprecedented post-poll retributive violence.”

    Coming down heavily on Dhankhar, the CM, in her letter, said, “I had requested and specifically advised you to refrain from surpassing the Chief Minister and her council of ministers and communicating with dictating the State officials, in excess of your power under the Constitution and directing them to attendbefore you. I find you that you are steadily ignoring this advice, solemnly rendered by me to you, and have been communicating with and dictating the State officials. You have also been seeking reports from them directly. I urge you and again request and advise you to refrain from this. I am asking my ChiefSecretary to go by this norm.”

    ALSO READ | Post poll violence continues in Bengal as one killed, six injured; Governor hits out at Mamata government

    Mamata described Dhankhar’s district visit a decision taken unilaterally and she found it to be violative of the long-standing norms as evolved over several decades.

    Tension rocked Cooch Behar over the issue of governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s visit on Thursday. He was shown black flags at two places — Dinhata and Sitalkuchi — where four persons were gunned down by central troops on the day of election.

    At Dinhata, from where BJP won by a razor-thin margin of 57 votes, the Governor lost his cool when a group of local people blocked the road and shouting “go back” slogans. He was heard asking the in-charge of the local police station saying, “What the hell you are doing?”

    “People are in mortal fear of police @WBPolice and ruling dispensation workers. A dozen ruling party workers could stop my convoy, with no fear of law and police. Such state of affairs @MamataOfficial! I had to intervene finding they were determined to involve with my security,” Dhankhar tweeted.   

    Further taking to his Twitter handle, he wrote, “At Coochbehar. Visited several affected areas. Distressed at the grim scenario. After listening to tales of sorrow no tears left in my eyes. Never imagined severity of post-poll retributive violence @MamataOfficial was much beyond. One is made to pay with life andrights for voting!”

  • Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar expresses concern over security situation ahead of polls

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed concerns about the security scenario in the state in light of the upcoming Assembly elections and raised questions over the state administration’s role in maintaining law and order after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Saturday.

    The governor’s interaction with Shah comes days after his meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.

    Dhankhar, who had been at loggerheads with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government ever since taking charge as the Bengal governor and criticised the Mamata Banerjee dispensation on several occasions, alleged on Saturday that the state has been “plagued with rampant violence”.

    “The law-and-order situation and the security environment in West Bengal is under threat. Al Qaeda is spreading, illegal bomb-making is rampant. I’d like to know what are they (state administration) doing?

    “The position of the director general of police in Bengal is an open secret. That’s why I say we have ‘political police’. Everyday I am hearing news of bomb blasts or bombs being found,” he claimed in a press briefing after meeting Shah in Delhi.

    The ongoing tiff between the West Bengal Governor and the ruling TMC reached a new high recently when a group of party leaders wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding Dhankar’s dismissal from the post.

    On Saturday, the West Bengal governor said, “It’s time for us to set an example by engaging in best practices so that every voter is in a position to express their franchise freely and fairly in a peaceful atmosphere.”

    The TMC has repeatedly targeted the BJP, saying it is controlled by “outsiders”.

    Chief Minister Banerjee has also labelled the BJP as a “party of outsiders”.

    “My heart pains when ignoring constitutional provisions, a child of ‘Maa Bharti’ is called an outsider in West Bengal because he doesn’t belong to the state. We’re all the children of ‘Maa Bharti’ and we believe in our unity. No person living in this land can be an outsider.

    “The year 2021 is a challenging year for West Bengal. It’s an opportunity for the state to engage in makeover of the image as elections in Bengal have been plagued with rampant violence, compromising basic rights of voters and role of bureaucracy,” he said.

    Dhankar, who had a meeting with Shah barely a month ago, spoke to the Union home minister for over an hour on Saturday.

    Tagging Mamata Banerjee in a tweet, he said, “Called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah today. Had more than an hour interaction as regards various facets of state of affairs @MamataOfficial. Traversed issues of concern.”

  • West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar accepts TMC Minister Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s resignation

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Laxmi Ratan Shukla from the state’s council of ministers on the advice of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Shukla also resigned as the Trinamool Congress’s Howrah district president, but is likely to continue as the MLA. 

    Shukla was the minister of state for youth services and sports.

    “Shri Laxmi Ratan Shukla ceases to be a member of the Council of Ministers with immediate effect,” the governor said in an order.

    The charge of the youth services and sports department will vest with Aroop Biswas as recommended by the chief minister, Dhankhar said in the order.

    While political circles were busy assessing the impact of Shukla’s withdrawal, coming as it does within a month of Mamata’s once trusted lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari’s BJP switch, the Bengal chief minister said, “He is a nice boy. There is no scope for political rumors over this issue.

    He told me that he wanted to concentrate on sports and that is why he stepped down. He said he would continue as the MLA.’’ However, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said the TMC was losing people by attacking us.

    “The split in TMC has already begun,” he said. Left Front leader Sujan Chakraborty echoed Ghosh while saying, “The chief minister should understand that her colleagues are no longer relying on her.”Union minister Babul Supriyo sent feelers to Shukla, saying BJP was ready to accept him, if he wanted to join the party.

    (With PTI inputs)