Bengal Guv writes to CM Mamata over dead body issue, says 'both should apologize'

The war of words between West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and the Trinamool Congress-led state government does not seem to come to any halt. On Friday, Dhankar tweeted the letter he had written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the issue of dead bodies being dragged at a crematorium with a pair of tongs. A viral video of a dead body being dragged out of a crematorium in Garia had taken Bengal's political world by storm.

The Governor even fired an early morning tweet in which he appealed to his elected counterpart that both of them should apologize to the public.

"Constrained to write ⁦@MamataOfficial⁩ as both @HomeSecretaryWB and @kmc_kolkata⁩ Chairperson failed to give details re: decomposed human dead bodies being savagely dragged by pair of tongs. Appeal to CM-We both need to offer PUBLIC APOLOGY to soothe public mood," read Dhankar's tweet.

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The Governor in his letter stated that there was no information from the state administration and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Chairperson, on the decomposed dead bodies which surfaced in a video that went viral a few days ago. 

The civic body had earlier denied the allegations of the bodies belonging to COVID-19 patients, as the crematorium were used to dispose off unclaimed bodied. The KMC ordered a probe into the matter since the Governor was not satisfied with the reply. The Governor has maintained there should be dignity at death even if the bodies were not those of COVID-19 patients or even if they were unclaimed bodies. 

“It is time for both of us, to soothe surcharged feelings of the people by making a public apology. Appropriate directions at your end need to emanate to the concerned to make available the details sought without delay. Since in this monumental lapse accountability also rests with KMC, it’s Board Chairperson be directed to personally update me," wrote the Governor in his letter to Mamata Banerjee.

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Governor-govt tiff

The West Bengal Governor and the Trinamool Congress government has been at loggerheads since the start over a host of issues, lately being the handling of the coronavirus outbreak in the state. The Governor and ruling party members often spare on Twitter over governance issues where Dhankar points out perceived faults and mismanagement in part of the state government while TMC leaders, and even the CM, allege that the Raj Bhavan has become an outpost for the Centre to intervene in state affairs.

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