Kolkata: Five Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs have written to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding the immediate removal of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
“We submit that the Governor has failed to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and repeatedly breached law declared by the Supreme Court. From the seat of the highest Constitutional office in the state, Governor Dhankhar has been inducing divisive politics, just because ruling parties at the Centre and state are political opponents,” stated the memorandum drafted by Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, and backed by Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
Dhankar has been on collision course with the Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC state government over a number of issues since he was appointed governor in July 2019.
“Some of the recent words/utterances/tweets/media briefings directed against the West Bengal government, Hon’ble Chief Minister and All India Trinamool Congress reflect flagrant disregard to constitutional norms, proprieties and ethics. Some remarks are provocative and incite action which could lead to law and order problems,” the letter stated.
“Such tendencies and inclinations on the part of the Constitutional Head of the state to openly support a political party strikes at the very root of federalism which the Supreme Court has held to be a basic structure of India’s Constitution,” the MPs further said.
Among other issues, Dhankar has criticised the state government repeatedly over worsening law and order situation.
“We place it on record that West Bengal witnessed 663 political murders between 2001 and 2011 and it came down to 113 during Mamata Banerjee-led government from 2011 to 2019 (source NCRB). The Maoist-infested Jangalmahal areas of south Bengal districts bordering Jharkhand and Odisha were also freed from the extremist politics of annihilation through administrative initiatives and political process ensured by Mamata Banerjee government since 2011,” the TMC MPs pointed out.
