Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today blocked Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar from her Twitter account and accused the latter of “tapping phones” and “threatening’ her officers.
“I apologise for it in advance. He (Mr Dhankhar) tweets something every day abusing me or my officers. He says unconstitutional, unethical things. He instructs not advises. Treats an elected government like bonded labour despite being a nominated person. That’s why I have been forced to block him from my Twitter account. I was getting irritated by his comments,” Miss Banerjee said at a press conference in Nabanna.
The move, which means that the governor’s posts will no longer show up on her Twitter feed, came a day after Mr Dhankhar said the state had become “a gas chamber for democracy” at an event to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.
“I have written at least four letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about him (Mr Dhankhar) but he has not been withdrawn. He is not listening. I have even been to him and spoke with him. We have been patiently suffering for the past one and a half years. He has not cleared several files. How can he speak about policy decisions?” Miss Banerjee questioned adding that the Governor’s role is to inaugurate, click pictures and say a few words. “If he has some doubt over any file then he can seek clarification following which he has to approve it. This is the rule. But he is holding back all the files,” she said.
Miss Banerjee accused Mr Dhankhar of tapping phones and threatening officers on several occasions. “Pegasus is running from Governor house. He is regularly calling our officers to meet him and threatening them. From commissioner of police to DGP, from chief secretary to home secretary and principal secretaries as well as DMs to SPs..he is threatening all. People of West Bengal never bow down to such threats,” she said.
“Every morning and evening he (Bengal Governor) tweets accusing and attacking us. As if he is the only supreme and we are bonded labourers. I cannot take it. I blocked him today on Twitter. Pegasus is being done from Raj Bhavan. Phones are being randomly tapped,” read a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office
Soon after Miss Banerjee’s press conference, Mr Dhankhar took to Twitter to post screenshots of Article 159 and 167 of the Constitution spelling out the functions of a Governor and duties of a Chief Minister respectively.