The Trinamul Congress today claimed that the governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, is overstepping the constitutional boundaries as the latter today met two Central ministers in the national capital.
Dhankhar, who met Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Prahlad Singh Patel on Wednesday, is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah during his two-day visit to Delhi.
Taking to Twitter, Dhankhar wrote “Had useful interaction with Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs of India @JoshiPralhad on varied issues.” Later in another tweet, he said: “Had useful deliberations with Union Minister for Culture, Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel on issues pertaining to Victoria Memorial, Indian Museum and Asiatic Society aimed at enhancing the impact of these bodies.”
Dhankhar is likely to brief Amit Shah and Narendra Modi brief on the ‘deteriorating’ law and order situation in Bengal. He had already written a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, urging her to restore the faith of the people in the state administration and the police in general.
The state government, however, had reacted strongly to the letter, alleging that the Governor made the letter public even before it reached the secretariat. Dhankhar’s meeting with the Union ministers on Wednesday drew strong criticism from the Trinamool Congress.
Speaking to the media, senior Trinamool leader Sougata Roy said, “I don’t know what he is doing. He is meeting Central ministers. He is going to places with BJP leaders. He stays in a huge house which he has turned into a party office. He is saying something which he should not have said.”
“He is supposed to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Banerjee, but he is not doing that. He has nothing to do beyond that. Where is it written in the Constitution that a Governor can do all these things?” Roy asked.