The war of words between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is refusing to die down. Two days after she said she had blocked Mr. Dhankhar on Twitter, the Chief Minister on Wednesday once again targeted him by referring to an incident at the Republic Day celebrations when a horse of the Kolkata Mounted Police was out of line at the parade.
“They have sent a Ghorapal here… This incident came to my mind because on January 26, I was looking at a horse of the Mounted Police. The horse also came to know that there is aGh orapalh ere. It was also resisting. The Trinamool Congress has no role in this,” Ms. Banerjee said amidst cheers from party workers whohad assembled for the party’s organisational polls in Kolkata.
The Chief Minister did not directly take the name of Governor, but by using the term “ Ghorapal ” that sounds like “ Rajyapal (Governor)” she made it clear that she was talking about Mr. Dhankhar. “Gh orapal” is not a word in Bengali language, but “Gho ra” me ans a horse.
The Chief Minister went on to say that the Governor was calling officials without the consent of the State and she had been putting up with this situation for the past year and a half.
“ There is no democracy in Bengal.... there is only violence in the State.... there are murders and atrocities on women in the State, as if he is sitting and watching everything with binoculars. What is happening in U.P., in Delhi, in Tripura, has he ever tried to ascertain?” Ms. Banerjee said as she reiterated the same set of allegations she had made against the Constitutional head on Monday.
The Chief Minister went on to say that “someone who could not get elected as a councillor and had changed party ten times” was lecturing an elected State government on Constitutional issues and State government schemes.
Within hours of Ms. Banerjee making the remarks, Mr. Dhankhar responded that the Chief Minister’s words “amused and surprised“ him. “One particular horse was perhaps not in line. She has used that incident to say that the horse was showing its back to me. Where are we heading?” he wondered.
Mr. Dhankhar stressed that “Governorship of a State was in accordance with the rule of law” and that the Chief Minister was making wild allegations against him. Being constitutional functionaries, he and the Chief Minister should maintain “civility”, he pointed out.
