Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, CM Mamata Banerjee feud intensifies

Both write stinging letters to each other in their official capacity

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. File

The relations between West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee touched a new low on Monday when both in their official capacity fired strongly worded letters to each other. In her letter, Ms. Banerjee accused the Governor of “aggravating the situation" through provocation while Mr. Dhankar responded saying he had been “heaped indignities” by Ministers “being on rampage with most vituperative language”.

The Chief Minister’s letter urged the Governor to “cooperate to maintain peace” adding that the “constitutional obligation in my view is [for the Governor] to support the State government machinery to maintain peace and harmony rather than aggravating the situation by provoking the elements who may attempt to disturb the order and tranquillity”. The Chief Minister said she was ‘sorry’ to see the Governor’s “frequent tweets and press briefings criticising the State government and senior officers”.

The Governor within hours replied that his “constitutional position was repeatedly compromised”. “Even on the current critical situation in the State, I have not been briefed by the State government at any stage and at any level whatsoever,” he said maintaining he was looking forward to a meeting with the Chief Minister on Tuesday.

Governor summons Mamata to personally update him

Earlier in the day, the Governor summoned the Chief Minister after senior officials of the government failed to turn up to brief him on the situation.

“In view of the enormity of the situation, I have called upon Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to personally update me at the Raj Bhavan tomorrow [Tuesday] at a time of her choice. There is no response from the Chief Secretary and the DGP thus far. This is unfortunate and unexpected of them,” Mr. Dhankar tweeted. He also expressed anguish about the Chief Minister’s rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which he called the “law of the land”. “This is unconstitutional. I call upon the CM to desist from this unconstitutional and inflammatory act at this juncture and devote to retrieve the grim situation”.

While the war of words has been raging for months, this is the first occasion the two had made scathing attacks on each other through official communications even as the State is witnessing violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.