West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said some people in constitutional posts were acting like mouthpieces of the BJP and trying to run a parallel administration.
“I usually do not comment on constitutional posts. But there are some people who are behaving like BJP mouthpiece. In my State you are seeing what is going. They like to run a parallel administration,” Ms. Banerjee said to a question on the role of the Governor in government formation in Maharashtra.
“The Central and the State governments are elected by the people and the federal structure must work as per Constitution…But some nominated persons’ behaviour is too much. I think the Centre should act,” she said.
The remarks assume significance as they come when the relations between the Raj Bhavan , Kolkata and the Trinamool Congress government remain strained. Only a few days ago Governor Jadgeep Dhankar visited Singur in Hooghly district which irked the State government. The Governor said he would like to spend a long time in Singur and Nandigram and gather “full knowledge” about the two places.
Governor seeks helicopter to visit Malda
Earlier in the day, Governor Dhankar said he would visit Malda on Friday and had requisitioned a helicopter which for some reason had not been made available to him. “As per the direction, the issue of helicopter has been flagged to the State Chief Secretary for his response which is awaited. Keeping in view of the delay involved, a communication in the matter has already been sent by him to the Hon’ble CM and response to that is also awaited,” a press statement by the Raj Bhavan said. Mr. Dhankar had expressed his displeasure on not being invited to the inaugural event at the 25th Kolkata International Film Festival.
Ever since assuming charge in July, Mr. Dhankar has not shied away from criticising the policies of the State government, including law and order and educational system. While Mr. Dhankar’s visit to Ms. Banerjee’s residence during the Kali Puja brought some thaw in the relations, comments and counter comments had continued almost on a daily basis.
