West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi on Thursday lambasted Trinamul Congress leaders, who accused him of flouting the Constitution and bypassing the state government, and asked them to “look at their own faces in the mirror.”
The ruling Trinamul Congress, however, alleged that the BJP had turned the constitutional office of the governor into its party office to serve its political interests. The TMC’s reaction came after Mr Tripathi said: “They should go to the washroom, look at their faces in the mirror and remove dirt from their faces.
They should stop throwing mud on the governor’s office.” The governor said this at Diamond Harbour when reporters sought his reaction on the criticism by the Trinamul Congress.
Mr Tripathi’s reaction irked Trinamul Congress secretary general and minister of parliamentary affairs Partha Chatterjee, who said Mr Tripathi should deliver appropriate language and maintain a balance in his speech.
Mr Chatterjee said as Mr Tripathi is a constitutional head in the state he must maintain dignity of his post. He had told the House on Wednesday that the governor’s post had been “tarnished”.
Slamming the governor in the Assembly on Wednesday My Chatterjee alleged: “The governor has tarnished his post by writing a letter (to the official). It is against the Constitution. We condemn such action. We respect him as the constitutional head, but we will not accept such action under any circumstances.
I don’t want to comment any more on him as he is old so he may say this,” said Mr Chatterjee. The TMC’s chief national spokesperson Derek O’Brien had alleged on Tuesday that the governor had written a letter to the divisional commissioner of Malda, directing him to convene a meeting on law and order and development schemes of the state and Central governments in the district bordering Bangladesh. Mr O’Brien had also said that Mr Tripathi could not act unilaterally and he should follow the rules and regulations.