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Tag: Jagdeep Dhankhar

  • Suvendu Adhikari, other BJP MLAs meet Bengal Governor over Mukul Roy’s appointment as PAC chief

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar seeking his intervention in MLA Mukul Roy’s appointment as the chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), maintaining that norms were not followed.

    Adhikari stated that Roy, who switched over to the ruling TMC after winning the assembly polls on a BJP ticket, should no longer be considered a member of the saffron camp, and his elevation as PAC chairman defies the well-established norm of appointing an opposition leader to the post.

    Claiming that the TMC wants to be its own judge, Adhikari alleged that the ruling party has ensured that its member gets chosen as the chief of PAC a panel that keeps a tab on government expenses to hide “questionable” pursuits.

    “We met the governor and sought his intervention as he is the custodian of the Constitution,” Adhikari, who led a delegation of BJP MLAs to Raj Bhavan, told reporters.

    Earlier in the day, eight BJP MLAs resigned as heads of Assembly panels in protest against Roy’s appointment.

    The leader of opposition further said that his party wishes to meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submit memoranda “describing how democracy is being throttled by the TMC in West Bengal with post-poll violence and unfair practices in the assembly”.

    He pointed out that Roy’s name did not figure in the list of six MLAs given by the BJP for the PAC chairman’s post.

    The BJP had been seeking disqualification of Roy as a legislator under the anti-defection law, arguing that he changes sides after his election to the assembly.

    Adhikari said that the hearing of the BJP’s application for Roy’s disqualification is scheduled to be held before the Speaker on July 16.

    Claiming that the by-polls should not be conducted in the state until the process of vaccination is over, the BJP leader said the TMC, however, is “worried” as Banerjee needs to get elected to the assembly to retain the CM’s chair.

    Adhikari defeated Banerjee in Nandigram by 1,956 votes, according to the Election Commission.

    Banerjee has moved a petition before the Calcutta High Court challenging Adhikari’s win.

  • ‘Blot on democracy’: TMC on BJP ruckus in Bengal Assembly during Governor’s address

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress hit out at the BJP on Saturday for creating ruckus during Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s inaugural address to the newly constituted assembly.

    Addressing a press conference, TMC’s Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said the opposition party’s actions in the House on Friday were a “blot on democracy”.

    “Listening to the governor’s address does not tantamount to one blindly supporting everything in it. It is courtesy. One can certainly vent his objection to the address in the reply speech,” he said.

    The opening session of the newly-constituted West Bengal assembly got off to a stormy start as the governor was forced to cut short his speech amid ruckus by the opposition BJP MLAs who took offence after finding “no mention” of post- poll violence in the address.

    Roy alleged that the BJP was conspiring to divide Bengal, urging people to thwart any such attempt.

    He also reiterated the demand for by-elections to the seven assembly seats in the state at the earliest.

    “The Election Commission went ahead with polling despite the spike in COVID-19 cases in April, and now that the positivity rate has gone down so much, why can’t the by- elections be held?” he asked.

    Roy said the Trinamool Congress would soon reach out to President Ramnath Kovind, demanding the dismissal of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta over his alleged meeting with the state’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

  • 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.  

  • BJP MLAs ruckus compels L-G Dhankar to cut short inaugural speech in West Bengal Assembly

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was forced to cut short his inaugural address to the newly constituted state assembly amid ruckus by opposition BJP over post-poll violence in the state.

    Dhankhar, who arrived in the afternoon to deliver the inaugural address, could speak only for 3-4 minutes as BJP MLAs carrying posters and pictures of alleged victims of post- poll violence came to well to stage protest.

    According to assembly sources, as he was unable to speak Dhankhar tabled his speech in the House and left.

    The governor was seen escorted by Speaker Biman Banerjee and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as he left the assembly premises.

    Later on while speaking to the reporters,Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the BJP legislators were forced to stage protest as there was no mention of post-poll violence in the speech copy circulated among the MLAs.

  • ‘Governor is corrupt’: Fresh war of words erupts between Mamata, Dhankhar

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: A fresh spell of war of words erupted between governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday after the latter branded the former a “corrupt man” and also accused him of being in the chargesheet of the Jain Hawala case.

    Mamata also attacked the governor over his three-day north Bengal visit. She alleged that it was part of the BJP’s game to split the northern part of the state from the rest. BJP MP in north Bengal John Barla recently demanded that the northern part of the state should be made a Union Territory.  In retaliation, Dhankhar termed the allegation as “far from the truth”. The governor said the attack on him was a fallout of his letter asking Mamata to make changes in the draft of his Assembly speech scheduled on July 2.

    “I have written three letters to the Centre requesting the removal of the governor. I am sorry to say that he is a corrupt man. His name was in the chargesheet of the Hawala Jain case. Why should he dictate us terms even after we came to power with a huge mandate?” Mamata asked.

    Dhankhar said, “Her statement is unfortunate. It was not expected from a senior politician of her stature. Her allegation over the Hawala case is far from fact. My name was not mentioned in the chargesheet. Besides, all those whose names were mentioned in the chargesheet were acquitted.” 

    Referring to Dhankhar’s comment on conducting an audit of north Bengal’s autonomous district council Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the Bengal CM said the governor’s north-Bengal tour should be brought under the scanner. “Who accompanied him during the visit, how much is the expenditure for the visit and whom he met there — all should be probed. He met BJP’s MPs, MLAs, and block presidents. His visit was aimed to separate north Bengal from the rest of the state,” Mamata hit out. 

    Shortly after Mamata’s allegation, Dhankhar held a press conference at Raj Bhavan. “There was no audit in the GTA since 2017. The autonomous body GTA has been reduced to a government department and people say it has become a den of corruption and nepotism. The CAG should conduct GTA’s audit. I shall not bow down. I am not wearing kid’s gloves. I will do all I can in my command,” he retaliated.

  • Bengal budget session to begin from July 2, COVID protocols to be followed

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The budget session of the West Bengal Assembly will begin from July 2 with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s address, Speaker Biman Banerjee said on Tuesday.

    The budget is likely to be placed in the house the next day of the commencement of the session or the day after, assembly sources said.

    The duration of the session is yet to be finalised.

    “The budget session of the West Bengal assembly will begin from July 2 with Governor’s address. However, it is yet to be decided till when the session will continue,” Banerjee said.

    The session will be conducted following all COVID-19 protocols.

    According to TMC chief whip Nirmal Ghosh, just like the previous vote-on-account was placed by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself in February session due to ill health of state finance minister Amit Mitra, this time too the budget might be presented by either the CM or parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee in case Mitra is unable to do so.

    “However, nothing has been decided so far in this regard”, he said.

    Ghosh said the tenure of the budget session is likely to be decided during the Business Advisory committee meeting on June 28.

    This will be the first occasion that Banerjee and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari will face each other on the assembly floor.

    Once considered a protg of Mamata Banerjee, Adhikari switched over to the BJP just ahead of the assembly polls and defeated the chief minister from the high-profile Nandigram seat by a slim margin.

    BJP with 75 MLAs is the main opposition in the Bengal assembly.

    Congress and the Left parties have no representation in the present house.

    This will be the first budget of the new Trinamool Congress government, which stormed back to power for the third consecutive time in the April-May elections with a massive mandate.

  • Have written thrice to PM to withdraw Dhankhar as Governor, says West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s New Delhi visit as she said a “child can be cajoled into silence” but not an elderly man, noting that she has thrice written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw him from the state.

    Calling the governor a “Centre’s man”, Banerjee refrained from commenting much on his meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and several other union ministers in Delhi.

    “What can I say? A child can be cajoled into silence. In this case, speech is silver; silence is golden,” she said.

    Asked about media reports suggesting that the governor might be removed, Banerjee said she is not aware of any such development.

    “How do I know? When a governor is appointed, the state government is consulted. That, however, was not done in this case. I have written twice or thrice to the Prime Minister seeking his withdrawal from the state,” she said.

    Dhankhar, who has shared a strained relationship with the TMC government since taking charge as the governor of the state in 2019, is in the national capital on a four-day trip.

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    He has not specified any reason for the visit.

    The governor met Union ministers Prahlad Joshi and Prahlad Singh Patel on Wednesday.

    He also held a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier in the day.

    Dhankhar is scheduled to meet Home Minister Amit Shah later in the day.

    The chief minister, when enquired if Raj Bhavan appointing several ‘officers on special duty’ has mounted pressure on the state exchequer, maintained that she wouldn’t have the details offhand.

    The ruling TMC in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of violating constitutional norms and requested him not to return to the state.

    Left Front chairman in the state and CPI(M) leader, Biman Bose, slammed the governor for allegedly acting like a BJP mouthpiece and condemned his “partisan” role.

    State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, however, stated that the TMC has “no respect for the Constitution”.

    “The governor is doing the right thing, and that is why the TMC dispensation does not like it. The Centre appoints him, and it is obvious that he has to report various developments to the Union government,” Ghosh asserted.

  • Bengal Guv Jagdeep Dhankhar to visit Delhi after meeting with BJP MLAs over law and order situation

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A day after a delegation of BJP MLAs petitioned him for alleged deterioration of the law and order situation in the state, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will on Tuesday embark on a four-day visit to New Delhi.

    Taking to Twitter, the governor said he will go to the national capital late on Tuesday evening and return to Kolkata on June 18.

    He did not specify the reasons for his visit.

    Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Monday led a delegation of several BJP MLAs to Raj Bhavan to seek Dhankhar’s intervention, highlighting alleged lawlessness and the “partisan stance” of the state police.

    Dhankhar had tweeted that Adhikari called on him and submitted a representation over the state’s current law and order situation.

    “Over 50 Opposition MLAs expressed serious concern at lawlessness @MamataOfficial and partisan stance @WBPolice @KolkataPolice and sought intervention as the situation was sliding. Governor assured the MLAs and LOP @SuvenduWB that he will look into grievances of which he is aware,” the governor wrote on the microblogging site.

    Over 50 Opposition MLAs expressed serious concern at lawlessness @MamataOfficial and partisan stance @WBPolice @KolkataPolice and sought intervention as the situation was sliding. Governor assured the MLAs and LOP @SuvenduWB that he will look into grievances of which he is aware. pic.twitter.com/LW7gGZ8Gv0
    — Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) June 14, 2021

    Adhikari claimed that political violence has been continuing in the state since the declaration of the results of the assembly elections, which the TMC won by a huge majority.

    The TMC has shared an acrimonious relation with Dhankhar since its previous term in the government when he assumed office in July 2019.

    In May, the ruling party hit out at the governor for his visit to areas affected by violence after the announcement of state assembly poll results.

  • TMC MP Mahua Moitra calls Bengal governor ‘uncle-ji’, says his kin appointed as officer on special duty

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Addressing West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as ‘uncle-ji’, TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Sunday said that his family members and other acquaintances have been appointed as officers on special duty (OSDs) in Raj Bhavan.

    Taking to Twitter, Moitra shared a list of names — OSD to governor Abbhudoy Singh Sekhawat, OSD-coordination Akhil Chowdhury, OSD-administration Ruchi Dubey, OSD-protocol Prasant Diksit, OSD-IT Koustav S Valikar and newly appointed OSD Kishan Dhankar.

    The TMC MP further said that Sekhawat is the son of Dhankhar’s brother-in-law, and Ruchi Dubey and Prasant Diksit are respectively wife and brother of his former aide-de-camp (ADC) Major Gorang Diksit.

    Valikar is the brother-in-law of present ADC Janardan Rao, while Kishan Dhankar is another close relative of the Governor, Moitra alleged.

    The TMC MP, when contacted, further said, “We all have the democratic right to ask him questions. He keeps asking questions to the state government. I would rather request him to look into the mirror. He has brought his entire village and entire clan to Raj Bhavan.” 

  • Gauhati HC seeks status report on refugees who fled to Assam after Bengal post-poll violence

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has asked the Assam government as well as the Centre to file a detailed reply on the status of some 400 people from West Bengal who fled to Assam in the face of violence following the declaration of Assembly election results on May 2.

    After hearing two public interest litigations filed by individuals, Abhijit Sarma from Assam’s Dibrugarh and Ravi Chhedilal from Mumbai, the bench of Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak also sought the status of the condition of children, lodged in makeshift camps in Assam’s Dhubri, from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

    The matter will be heard again on July 14 after the court receives the replies within three weeks.

    When the people, including women, from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district crossed over to Dhubri over a period of three days, the Assam administration had sheltered them in two makeshift camps.

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    On May 14, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had visited one of the two camps and met the inmates.

    “These people are so terrified that they told me they could be attacked because I met them. They are facing political vendetta for opposing the ruling party (Trinamool Congress),” he had said then.

    Meanwhile, Assam BJP chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass said the party would demand the imposition of President’s rule in West Bengal.

    “The BJP believes in democracy. If (West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee fails to restore it in her state, we will not only demand the imposition of President’s Rule but will also launch an agitation in Assam,” Dass said.