Published 20:30 IST, April 29th 2020
Bengal Guv hits back at TMC MP on 'confrontational' letter, says 'listen to call of duty'
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar wrote to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee urging him to listen to "conscience" and the "call of duty"
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar wrote to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee urging him to listen to "conscience" and the "call of duty rather than be driven by an external script". This came after Banerjee's letter to Dhankar in which he stated that the Governor is acting as "loudhailer of the ruling party" at the Centre. The exchange is the latest in the fiery clash between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Governor.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Jagdeep Dhankar said that it is time to engage in the fight against the novel Coronavirus outbreak instead of being part of a "strategy to combat the Governor". In another tweet, he trained guns at the Mamata Banerjee-led party, alleging his outreach to the party yielded no result.
Dhankar's letter
In the letter, Governor Jagdeep Dhankar stated: "I am surprised that you are positioning on behalf of Hon'ble Chief Minister while you are nowhere in the loop on this. This pseudo defence is unfortunate and you are ignoring that my communication is a response to what the Hon'ble Chief Minister started and put before the public to take a call."
He went on to add: "Your communication is bereft of any substance. It is a diversionary tactic to deflect attention from monumental failures of the government in tackling the COVID-19 menace by ill-advised confrontational approach of the state government and the same is widely known."
Kalyan Banerjee's letter
Kalyan Banerjee had in his earlier letter to Dhankar stated: "Your recent expression that the Hon'ble Chief Minister was appeasing the Muslims itself establishes that you are acting as a loudhailer of the ruling party in the Centre. In a indirect method you are spreading communalism and inciting disharmony in the state of West Bengal."
Updated 20:30 IST, April 29th 2020