Bengal guv convenes all-party meet to discuss pending bills

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday invited Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders of other legislature parties to discuss issues pertaining to two bills, with the CPI(M) and the Congress remaining non-committal on attendance. Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan said he would be at an event in Delhi the day before and a decision would be taken on the meeting following consultations with the party's central leadership.

Earlier in the day, the governor had taken to Twitter to convene an all-party meet on January 17 to seek "guidance" and a "way forward" on two bills -- West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 and West Bengal State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Bill, 2019 -- which have been passed by the Assembly and were waiting for his consent.

"@MamataOfficial. I have invited leaders of the Legislature Parties in the Legislative Assembly on 17.1.2020 at 12 noon at Raj Bhavan, Kolkata as regards pendency of West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 and West Bengal State Commission for SC and ST Bill 2019," he tweeted.

In a letter attached with the tweet, he said, "As regards both the Bills, highest attention is being bestowed by me for their consideration at my end, essential inputs have been sought from the West Bengal legislative assembly as also the state government.

"In spite of repeated serious efforts at my end, the requisite information is not forthcoming and that has resulted in further appropriate consideration of the Bill in terms of the Constitution." Apart from Banerjee and Mannan, the letter was sent to CPI(M) legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty, and leaders of the RSP, the AIFB, CPI, GJM and the BJP. "The step was being taken for this meeting as on one hand the inputs are not being made available and on the other hand, total factually untenable information is being put in public domain both at the level of the Assembly as also the state government," Dhankhar wrote on his Twitter handle.

Shortly after, Mannan told a press meet here that a Congress delegation had earlier met the governor to point out "unwanted changes" made in the original draft of lynching prevention bill, but the party had no reservations regarding the SC-ST bill.

"We will decide about the issue (meeting the governor) after talking to the central leadership of our party. There is an event scheduled on January 16 in Delhi, which I will attend. We will take a decision after considering all these factors," he said. CPI(M) legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty stated that he was ready to sit with the governor for a discussion on the bills, but not on the proposed date. "Due to a prior commitment on January 17, I can't attend the meeting with the governor. I will inform him accordingly," he said.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, however, welcomed the governor's call and said his party was positive about attending the meeting. The ruling Trinamool Congress is yet to officially react on the governor's overture.