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Tag: Jagdeep Dhankhar

  • Cyclone Yaas: West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to attend Modi-Mamata meeting to review damages

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will attend a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to review the devastation caused by cyclone Yaas, officials said.

    The meeting is scheduled to be held at Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur district on Friday afternoon after Modi undertakes an aerial survey of the affected areas, they said. Dhankhar will receive the prime minister at the Kalaikunda Air Force Station, the officials said.

    WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will receive PM Narendra Modi at Kalaikunda Air Force Station on May 28.PM will visit areas affected #CycloneYass in WB to assess damage to life & material.Governor Dhankhar will attend PM Review Meet with the State Government @MamataOfficial.
    — Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) May 27, 2021

    “WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will receive PM Narendra Modi at Kalaikunda Air Force Station on May 28. PM will visit areas affected #CycloneYass in WB to assess damage to life & material. Governor Dhankhar will attend PM Review Meet with the State Government,” the governor tweeted.

    Banerjee is also scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas during the day. The chief minister has put West Bengal’s losses due to cyclone Yaas at Rs 15,000 crore. Announcing a relief package of Rs 1,000 crore, she said her government will run a ‘Duare Tran’ (relief at doorsteps) programme for the affected people.

    She has also ordered an inquiry by the Finance Department into the collapse of several embankments, bridges and roads that were constructed after super cyclone Amphan hit the state in May last year.

  • West Bengal Governor gave nod on May 7 to CBI plea seeking sanction to prosecute three TMC MLAs

    By PTI
    KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar gave his assent to CBI’s request seeking sanction for prosecution of four political leaders, including three from the ruling TMC, in connection with the Narada sting case on May 7, two days after Mamata Banerjee was sworn in as chief minister for the third time, officials said on Monday.

    They said the CBI approached the governor’s office seeking permission to prosecute Trinamool Congress MLAs Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee and Madan Mitra as well as former party leader Sovan Chatterjee in view of a 2004 Supreme Court judgement in which the top court had agreed that the governor could give sanction for prosecution.

    The officials said that the agency approached the governor’s office as the four were ministers in the previous government at time of the Narada sting case in which politicians were purportedly caught taking money on camera.

    They said that since the governor administers the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers, his or her office is the sanctioning authority.

    The officials said the CBI would also cite a judgement of the Supreme Court in a case related to former Madhya Pradesh ministers Rajender Kumar Singh and Bisahu Ram Yadav in which sanction to prosecution was given by the then governor.

    A complaint was made to the Lokayukta against them for having released 7.5 acres of land illegally and they had challenged their prosecution in the apex court.

    The top court in its judgement had said, “If, on these facts and circumstances, the governor cannot act in his own discretion, there would be a complete breakdown of the rule of law in as much as it would then be open for governments to refuse sanction in spite of overwhelming material showing that a prima facie case is made out.”

    “If, in cases where a prima facie case is clearly made out, sanction to prosecute high functionaries is refused or withheld, democracy itself will be at stake.It would then lead to a situation where people in power may break the law with impunity safe in the knowledge that they will not be prosecuted as the requisite sanction will not be granted,” he added.

    Hakim is the urban development minister in the present state government and Mukherjee holds the portfolio of panchayti raj and rural affairs. Mitra is an MLA and Chatterjee is an ex-MLA, who quit the TMC in 2019 to join the BJP but left the saffron party this year after he was not given a poll ticket.

    The officials said that all these leaders were arrested and chargesheeted in a crime that was allegedly committed in the previous tenure, and since all of them were ministers, the sanctioning authority was with the governor’s office.

    The sting operation was conducted by Mathew Samuel of Narada TV news channel in 2014 wherein people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving “illegal gratification” from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of favours, the CBI has alleged.

    The agency has alleged that Hakim was purportedly seen to have agreed to accept a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from the sting operator, while Mitra and Mukherjee were caught on camera receiving Rs 5 lakh each. Chatterjee was purportedly seen receiving Rs 4 lakh from the sting operator, it added.

    The tapes were made public just before the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation on April 16, 2017.

  • Total anarchy: Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar slams TMC agitation after arrests of ministers, MLA

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Expressing concern over agitation by TMC workers outside the CBI office here and elsewhere in West Bengal after the arrest of two ministers and others in the Narada sting case, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday alleged that there is “total lawlessness and anarchy” in the state and the police and administration are in “silence” mode.

    The governor urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to contain the “explosive situation” and asked her to weigh the “repercussions of such lawlessness and failure of constitutional mechanism”. He also accused the state administration of allowing the “situation to drift” and “not taking any tangible action” against the agitators.

    Message @MamataOfficial “Total lawlessness & anarchy. Police and administration in silence mode. Hope you realize repercussions of such lawlessness and failure of constitutional mechanism.Time to reflect and contain this explosive situation that is worsening minute by minute.”
    — Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) May 17, 2021

    Taking to Twitter, Dhankhar said, “Message @MamataOfficial Total lawlessness & anarchy. Police and administration in silence mode. Hope you realize repercussions of such lawlessness and failure of constitutional mechanism. Time to reflect and contain this explosive situation that is worsening minute by minute.”

    Hundreds of TMC supporters launched a protest outside the CBI office here and threw water bottles and stones at the central force personnel who barricaded the CGO Complex in Nizam Palace where the central agency’s office is located.

    Holding party flags and shouting slogans against Dhankhar, a group of TMC activists demonstrated outside the two gates of Raj Bhavan here. “Invited attention @MamataOfficial on channels and in public domain I notice arson and pelting of stones at CBI office. Pathetic that Kolkata Police and West Bengal Police are just onlookers. Appeal to you to act and restore law and order,” the governor said.

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    He asked the government and the state police to take all steps to maintain law and order. “Concerned at alarming situation. Call upon @MamataOfficial to follow constitutional norms & rule of law. Sad- situation is being allowed to drift with no tangible action by authorities,” Dhankhar said on the microblogging site.

    The central agency on Monday morning arrested state ministers Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra as well as former minister Sovan Chatterjee in connection with the Narada sting case in which politicians were purportedly caught taking money on camera.

    Officials said that the action comes as the central probe agency is likely to file its charge sheet in the case. Dhankhar had recently granted sanction to prosecute all the four leaders, following which the CBI finalised its charge sheet and moved to arrest them.

    The sting operation was purportedly conducted by Mathew Samuel of Narada TV news channel in 2014 wherein some people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of favours.

    ALSO READ| TMC workers protest outside CBI’s Kolkata office after arrest of ministers, MLA

    The tapes were made public just before the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March, 2017.

  • ‘Never heard of such post-poll violence’: Bengal Governor breaks into tears while visiting Nandigram

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday visited Nandigram Assembly constituency, from where CM Mamata Banerjee was defeated by BJP’s candidate Suvendu Adhikari, and he broke down into tears while giving his reaction to media. 

    Wiping out tears with a handkerchief, Dhankhar said he never heard of such post-poll violence.

    “Where have I come? I can’t believe what I have experienced. Democracy never allows such violence. I never heard of such violence after elections,” said Dhankhar at Nandigram’s Kendamari.

    Dhankhar arrived in Nandigram in a BSF helicopter and visited the areas where post-poll violence unleashed by the ruling Trinamool Congress took place. “It is time when we can’t sleep over, such a great challenge to our state. We are sitting on a volcano where people are forced to leave their houses, they are being subjected to all kind of indignities, killings, rapes, loots and extortion tax. I would appeal to the chief minister, it is high time she took note of it. Millions of people are suffering,” Dhankhar further said.

    On Thursday, Dhankhar visited Sitalkuchi in north Bengal where four persons were gunned down by central forces on an election day and the following day, he went to Assam to meet those who fled Bengal and took refuge there.

    After his visit, the governor, who has been at loggerheads with Mamata Banerjee since he assumed office in 2019, tweeted: “After listening to tales of sorrow no tears left in my eyes. Never imagined severity of post poll retributive violence.”

    Reacting to Dhankhar’s Nandigram visit, TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy, said, “No one takes him seriously. People in Bengal have understood that he is misusing his position and crossing constitutional limits.”

  • Dhankhar vs Trinamool: Bengal Governor visits Assam camp sheltering people affected by post-poll violence

    By PTI
    DHUBRI: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday visited a camp in Assam’s Ranpagli, where several families claiming to be BJP supporters have taken shelter after they had allegedly faced atrocities at the hands of ruling Trinamool Congress workers following the assembly elections.

    Accompanied by Nisith Pramanik, the BJP MP from Cooch Behar in north Bengal, Dhankhar went to the camp in Assam’s Dhubri district and interacted with the people, including women and children, who have taken refuge there.

    People at the shelter claimed to have fled their homes in Bengal after the poll results were out on May 2.

    They also alleged that their houses were “ransacked by Trinamool Congress goons”.

    The West Bengal governor travelled to the camp at Ranpagli by road from Cooch Behar as his helicopter could not take off owing to bad weather condition.

    Dhankhar had on Thursday visited various places in Cooch Behar and met people who were allegedly affected by the post-poll violence.

    He was shown black flags at Sitalkuchi, where four villagers died after firing by central forces during the elections, while “go back” slogans were raised at Dinhata during his visit to the district.

    The run-up to his visit was marked by a war of words between the governor and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

    The chief minister on Wednesday wrote to him claiming that his visit to the post-poll violence-affected Cooch Behar district violates norms, while Dhankhar hit back saying he was discharging duties mandated by the Constitution.

    He wrote back saying that he has been following the Constitution since taking oath as the governor and his visit to Cooch Behar was to share the pain and agony of the people suffering from the post-poll violence.

  • 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!”

  • ‘People paying with lives for exercising voting rights, will visit violence-hit areas’: Bengal Governor

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Moments after administering oath to the ministers of the Mamata Banerjee government, Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday expressed concern over the situation arising out of post-poll violence in the state and said he would soon be visiting the affected areas.

    Dhankhar, while talking to reporters, also said that people are being made to pay with their lives for exercising their franchise.

    “The situation that arose out of post-poll violence is worrisome. I will be visiting the violence-hit areas in the state,” he underlined.

    The governor further said that the state administration was yet to respond to his request for necessary arrangements prior to his visit to the affected areas.

    “If your vote becomes a cause of your death or property destruction, if it leads to arson, then that signals the end of democracy,” he said.

    Clashes were reported from several places in Bengal following the declaration of assembly election results on May 2.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently said at least 16 people have lost their lives in post-poll violence.

  • Narada sting tapes: Bengal Governor sanctions CBI prosecution of top ministers

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, on a request by the CBI, sanctioned the prosecution of Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee, all of them ministers during the time of the alleged commission of a crime that came to light in the purported Narada sting tapes, a Raj Bhavan official said on Sunday.

    “Honourable governor is the competent authority to accord sanction in terms of law as he happens to be the appointing authority for such ministers in terms of Article 164 of the Constitution,” a statement issued by the officer on special duty (communication), Raj Bhavan, said.

    All four were ministers in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet when the tapes were allegedly made in 2014.

    Hakim, Mukherjee and Mitra have been re-elected as TMC MLAs in the just-concluded assembly elections, while Chatterjee, who left the TMC to join the BJP, has severed links with both the camps.

    The statement said that the sanction for prosecution of the four leaders was accorded by Dhankhar “after the CBI had made a request and made available entire documentation relevant to the case to the honourable governor and he invoked his powers under Article 163 and 164 of the Constitution, being the competent authority to accord such sanction”.

    The Narada sting tapes, made public before the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal, were claimed to have been shot in 2014, wherein people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of promised favours.

    The sting operation was allegedly conducted by Mathew Samuel of Narada News portal.

    The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March, 2017.

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

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: One person was killed and six others were injured in a clash between the TMC and the BJP in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, police said on Saturday.

    The incident occurred at Muktinagar village under Dubrajpur assembly constituency when a group of people, allegedly BJP workers, tried to enter the houses of villagers on Friday night, a police officer said.

    “Members of the Trinamool Congress, who were feasting nearby, came to their rescue and they clashed with the BJP workers leading to the death of one and injuries to six others,” the police officer said.

    The injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Suri.

    The incident took place when a fact-finding team of the Union Home Ministry is visiting the state to take stock of post-poll violence.

    The house of another TMC activist was ransacked at a place near the village on Saturday morning.

    Meanwhile, the four-member team of the Union Home Ministry on Saturday visited several violence-ravaged places of the state.

    The team, led by an additional secretary of the ministry, flew to Birbhum district in the morning and from there they proceeded to several places, including Nanoor, which have been witnessing post-poll violence following the announcement of assembly poll results on May 2.

    Members of the team then went to Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district and visited places like Kendamari Jalpai and spoke to locals.

    The team, tasked with looking into reasons for the post-poll violence in West Bengal, had met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan on Friday.

    The ministry has sought a report from Dhankhar on the law and order situation in Bengal, in view of the violence that erupted in the state following the announcement of assembly election results.

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    The team had visited Budge Budge and Satgachia in South 24 Parganas district on Friday.

    The panel had on Thursday, too, toured several places in South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas, shortly after arriving here, and held meetings with the chief secretary, home secretary and the DGP at the secretariat, officials said.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that 16 people were killed in post-poll violence in the state.

    The BJP, on its part, alleged that TMC-backed goons have killed a number of its workers, attacked women members, vandalised houses and looted shops.

    Rejecting the charges, Banerjee maintained that clashes were taking place in those areas where the saffron party emerged victorious in the assembly polls.

    Dhankhar Saturday expressed displeasure at not being updated on the law and order situation in the state with regard to post poll violence by the chief secretary and director general of police (DGP).

    State Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay and DGP Virendra called on the governor at Raj Bhavan on Saturday evening being asked by him over the law and order situation in West Bengal.

    “Unfortunately both came without any paper or reports sought. Directed them to send the same without delay. In a sense disgusted with such stance,” Dhankhar tweeted after the officers met him.

    Maintaining that the home secretary has failed to apprise him on the law and order situation vis a vis the post-poll violence, Dhankhar had asked the chief secretary to see him.

    Dhankhar had tweeted earlier in the day that the home secretary did not forward reports of the DGP and commissioner of Kolkata Police in this regard.

    “Chief Secretary @MamataOfficial has been called upon to see me today before 7 PM as ACS Home @HomeBengal failed to impart status report on law and order regarding post poll violence,” the governor tweeted.

    “Such drifting of governance @MamataOfficial from constitutional prescriptions is unfortunate and cannot be overlooked. While the State passes through most severe post poll violence, there is just NO input to the constitutional head. This is least expected,” Dhankhar wrote.

    The West Bengal has been rocked by large scale violence after the bitterly fought state elections.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that 16 persons of different political parties have lost their lives in clashes after the end of the polls.

    A four-member team of the union home ministry, tasked with looking into reasons for the post-poll violence in Bengal, had met Dhankhar at Raj Bhawan.

  • ‘PM called me, expressed anguish over Bengal’s law and order situation’: Governor on post-poll violence

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him and expressed anguish over the law and order situation in the state following reports of post-poll violence from several districts.

    The state was in the throes of widespread violence on Monday that allegedly left several BJP workers dead and injured in clashes, and shops being looted, prompting the Centre to seek a factual report from the government on incidents of attack on opposition workers.

    “PM called and expressed his serious anguish and concern at alarmingly worrisome law & order situation @MamataOfficial. I share grave concerns @PMOIndia given that violence vandalism, arson, loot and killings continue unabated,” Dhankhar wrote on Twitter.

    Four people were killed in alleged clashes between TMC and BJP supporters in Burdwan district on Sunday and Monday, officials said.

    The TMC claimed three of them were its supporters.

    Videos of alleged arson at a BJP office with bamboo poles and roof tiles burning amid worried cries of people running away from the premises were shared by the party.

    “Police @WBPolice @CPKolkata must end senseless political violence, vandalism, arson, killings and intimidation that shames democracy. Why post poll violence only WB? Why this assault on democracy?” the governor asked on the microblogging site.

    “Reports indicate horrendous state of affairs. Horrified people are fleeing to save themselves,” he added.

    The state was in the throes of widespread violence on Monday that allegedly left several BJP workers dead and injured in clashes, and shops being looted, prompting the Union Home ministry to seek a factual report from the state governent on incidents of attack on opposition workers.

    Four people were also killed in alleged clashes between TMC and BJP supporters in Burdwan district on Sunday and Monday, officials said.

    The TMC claimed three of them were its supporters.

    Videos of alleged arson at a BJP office with bamboo poles and roof tiles burning amid worried cries of people running away from the premises were shared by the party.

    Photos of dead men, and people scampering with apparel looted from a shop were everywhere on social media.

    PTI could not independently verify the genuineness of the vieos.

    ALSO READ | Bengal burning due to state-sponsored violence: BJP hits out at Mamata government

    BJP claimed at least six of its workers and supporters including a woman was killed in attacks the party blamed on the TMC.

    The BJP shared a video with journalists showing a ransacked party office in Nandigram where piles of documents, posters, and broken furniture lay scattered everywhere.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had Sunday lost the seat to her former lieutenant-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari.

    Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar summoned state Home Secretary, DGP and Kolkata Commissioner of Police and directed them to restore peace.

    He discussed with them the situation following the incidents that took place a day after the ruling TMC returned to power with an overwhelming majority crushing the BJP.

    “ACS Home @HomeBengal who was called by me in wake of rising post poll violence in State has been directed to submit report on post poll violence and vandalism in State & steps taken,” Dhankhar tweeted after meeting Home Secretary H K Dwivedi.

    He also separately met DGP P Nirajnayan and Police Commissioner Soumen Mitra and directed them to restore law and order.

    “DGP West Bengal Police and Commissioner of Kolkata Police summoned by me in the wake of continually rising post poll incidents of arson, looting and violence as also killings in the state were indicated of alarming scenario.

    Called upon them to take all steps to restore law and order,” he added.

    “MHA has asked West Bengal Government for a report on the post-election violence targeting opposition political workers in the state,” a spokesperson tweeted.

    Banerjee, meanwhile, urged her supporters to maintain peace amid reports of violence and asked them not to fall prey to provocations.

    The central forces committed many atrocities on TMC supporters during the elections, she alleged.

    “Even after the results were announced, BJP attacked our supporters in certain areas but we ask our men not to get provoked and instead report to the police,” she told a press conference.

    ALSO READ | BJP will play role of constructive Opposition in Bengal: Newly-elected MLA Ashok Lahiri

    Governor Dhankhar, after a meeting with Banerjee at Raj Bhavan, where she had gone to stake claim to form the government his primary focus during the interaction with her was on the government taking steps to end the post-poll incidents of violence, arson, loot and killing.

    “It is unfortunate that many lives have been lost, several injured, houses torches in this violence,” he tweeted after meeting the chief minister.

    Nadda met the families of two BJP workers killed by alleged TMC supporters in Kankurgachi in Kolkata and Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas. “I have heard about the immense atrocities committed during the Partition. But I have never seen such post-poll violence occurring in West Bengal after the declaration of election results. The present law and order situation is a reflection of the ruling party’s intolerance.,’’ he said. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday ordered a spot inquiry by a fact-finding team into the incidents of violence.

    “Considering as a fit case of the alleged violation of Right to Life of the innocent citizens, the commission has today taken suo-motu cognizance of the matter and has requested its DIG to constitute a team of officers of the Investigation Division of the commission to conduct an on-the-spot fact-finding investigation and to submit a report at the earliest,” NHRC said, in a statement.

    (With inputs from Pranab Mondal)