TMC moves Prez to remove Dhankhar from WB Guv post

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, December 30

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) today said it has moved President Ram Nath Kovind to remove Jagdeep Dhankhar from the post of the West Bengal Governor, accusing him of “transgressing constitutional limits” by regularly commenting against the state administration and government in the public.

The BJP, however, said the Governor was acting within his constitutional parameters while the “TMC is scared”.

A team of TMC MPs sent a memorandum to the President, listing “all such transgressions” by Dhankhar in recent times and urged him to take action as per Article 156, Clause 1 of the Constitution, party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said here.

Drawing up a comparison with the last CPM-led Left Front regime, West Bengal’s ruling TMC on Wednesday claimed drastic reduction in the number of political murders in the state.

The memorandum said the number of political murders during the past 10 years of the Left Front regime was six times more than the first nine years of the TMC rule in the state.

Quoting data available with the NCRB, the memorandum said while West Bengal witnessed 663 political murders between 2001 and 2011 (Left Front regime), the figure came down to 113 during the period from 2011 to 2019 (TMC government).

Claiming an overall improvement in the law and order situation in the state, including troubled spots such as the Maoist-infested Jangal Mahal and the Gorkhaland agitation epicentre Darjeeling Hills, the memorandum stated despite the positive changes, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spread canards against the West Bengal government during his recent visits to the state.

Shah’s comments on the issue of law and order situation were being echoed and amplified by Governor Dhankhar through his tweets, press statements and press conferences, the memorandum alleged.

It said the public stance adopted by Dhankhar against the state government (describing law and order at its lowest ebb and demanding public apology from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the attack on BJP chief JP Nadda’s convoy during his recent visit to West Bengal) was uncalled for and clearly showed that the Governor was acting under the instruction of BJP ministers at the Centre and trying to show the West Bengal Government in a bad light.

A copy of the memorandum signed by five TMC office-bearers in the Parliament, including Sudip Bandopadhyay (leader of TMC in Lok Sabha) and Derek O’Brien (leader of TMC in Rajya Sabha) was distributed here by Sukhendu Sekhar Ray (chief whip of TMC at Rajya Sabha), who is one of the signatories to the memorandum.

Constitutional experts in Kolkata, however, questioned the legal validity of demanding removal of the Governor under Article 156 (1) of the Constitution.

Quote: ‘Commenting against state govt’

Since he arrived in the state in July last year, he has been regularly tweeting and holding press meets, where he is regularly passing comments on the functioning of the state govt, our officers, ministers and the CM. Every such action is violative of his constitutional rights – Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, tmc rajya sabha mp