Mamata Banerjee Blocks Jagdeep Dhankhar’s Twitter Account, Governor – CM Relationship Hits a New Low

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Jan 31: The acrimonious relationship between the West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has again hit a new low with the governor publicly accusing the state government of poor law and order situation and the chief minister blocking his Twitter account.

Banerjee on Monday blocked the governor’s Twitter account a day after Dhankhar wrote that West Bengal had become “a gas chamber for democracy” showing definite signs that the ties between the two constitutional officials had neared a point of no return following years of acrimony.

“I apologise for it in advance. He (Jagdeep Dhankhar) tweets something every day abusing me or my officers. Says unconstitutional, unethical things. He instructs not advises. Treats an elected government like bonded labour. That’s why I have blocked him from my Twitter account. I was getting irritated,” Banerjee said at a news conference. Banerjee also said the governor has threatened the Chief Secretary and the police chief on several occasions.

She said she has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi several times, seeking the removal of Dhankhar but no action has been taken so far. Mamata Banerjee’s move, which would mean the governor’s posts will no longer show up on her Twitter feed, appeared to have been prompted by Dhankhar’s latest attack on her government at an event to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.

“I cannot see the hallowed land of Bengal getting blood drenched (in violence) and becoming a laboratory for trampling of human rights. People are saying that the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy,” he had said in remarks that he posted on his Twitter account as well. “There is no rule of law in Bengal. Only the ruler rules here. It is my responsibility to protect the Constitution,” he said, adding that no amount of “insults” will deter him from performing his “duties.”

On Monday, he responded to Mamata Banerjee’s move by quoting the Constitution. The governor, a former leader of the opposition BJP who has been permanently at odds with Ms Banerjee since his appointment in 2019, recently accused the Chief Minister and the Speaker of the assembly of breaching constitutional norms by not providing him information he had sought on multiple matters.

Throughout his tenure, he has had run-ins with the government over appointments of vice chancellors of universities, calling bureaucrats to his office for explanations. During the elections, the governor allowed the Raj-Bhavan to be used as the BJP headquarters and issued political statements attacking the TMC government. Last week, the governor, after paying floral tributes at the statue of BR Ambedkar on the assembly premises, had described the political condition in Bengal as “horrible and frightening.”

Banerjee said she was disturbed by the governor’s repeated anti-government posts on the microblogging site. Stating that phones were being randomly tapped, Banerjee compared the crisis with the raging Pegasus spyware controversy that is likely to have an impact on the ongoing budget session of Parliament. “Pegasus is being done from the Raj Bhavan,” she said.

Earlier in the day, TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said he had requested President Ram Nath Kovind to remove Dhankhar from the state. Bandyopadhyay said Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was also present when he made the appeal.

On Sunday, in a fresh attack on Banerjee, Dhankhar said democracy survives on rule of law and not the rule of an ‘individual’ and that the Bengal CM was refusing to sit for talks with him. “Democracy survives on rule of law, not the rule of an individual. I hope she (West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee) looks into it. She is mandated by the Constitution to sit for a dialogue with the governor,” he said.

The war of words between Banerjee and Dhankhar have been going on for more than a year now. “Mandated under Article 159 of the Constitution to ensure none in the state “blocks” Constitutional Norms and Rules of Law and those in authority bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India,” Ever since Dhankhar was appointed the governor in 2019, the two leaders had an acrimonious relationship and it had touched a new low in December that year when both in their official capacity fired strongly worded letters to each other. In her letter, Banerjee accused the Governor of “aggravating the situation” through provocation while Dhankhar responded saying he had been “heaped indignities” by Ministers “being on rampage with most vituperative language.”

The Chief Minister’s letter urged the Governor to “cooperate to maintain peace” adding that the “constitutional obligation in my view is [for the Governor] to support the State government machinery to maintain peace and harmony rather than aggravating the situation by provoking the elements who may attempt to disturb the order and tranquillity”. The Chief Minister said she was ‘sorry’ to see the Governor’s “frequent tweets and press briefings criticising the State government and senior officers.”

The Governor had within hours replied that his “constitutional position was repeatedly compromised.” “Even on the current critical situation in the State, I have not been briefed by the State government at any stage and at any level whatsoever,” he said maintaining he was looking forward to a meeting with the Chief Minister. He had also summoned the Chief Minister to brief him on the law and order situation.

Ever since, the war of words between the two had been raging for years and if anything, the relations between the two was only deteriorating. After the TMC’s massive victory in the Assembly elections in May, last year, the governor virtually launched a manhunt of the Trinamool workers alleged to have attacked and killed the BJP activists.