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Bengal governor meets Amit Shah, fears violence in run-up to crucial polls
Dhankhar’s remarks drew strong reaction from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, who have accused him several times in recent months of being a mouthpiece of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar met Union home minster Amit Shah in Delhi on Saturday afternoon and discussed law and order situation in the state for 75 minutes.
After the meeting, Dhankhar told the media that the 2018 panchayat polls and 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal were marked by violence and people apprehend a similar scenario in the assembly polls due in a few months.
Dhankhar’s remarks drew strong reaction from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, who have accused him several times in recent months of being a mouthpiece of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“I cannot reveal the discussion I had with the home minister but the media surely knows more than me what I said. It is my job to keep the Centre informed. 2021 is a crucial year because of the elections. I have been constantly appealing for free and fair polls and asking public servants to shun politics. I hope people organizing the elections will take note and take action so that Bengal becomes an example for the rest of the country and the world,” said Dhankhar.
“The Election Commission of India (ECI) is competent but every citizen has a role. As governor I have to protect the Constitution. I am not a stakeholder in politics. My only concern is that the election process should not tamper the Constitution. I confine myself to constitutional limitations,” said Dhankhar when asked to react to the TMC’s allegation that he crosses his jurisdiction.
“Public servants (in Bengal) indulging in political activity are playing with fire. They should stop being political foot soldiers. My repeated warnings have had some effect. Most of them have rectified themselves,” Dhankhar added.
Senior TMC leader and Rajya Sabha Member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said the governor stepped out of his jurisdiction once again.
“The governor, knowing it fully well that conduct, superintendence and control of assembly, Lok Sabha and Rajya elections are within the domain of the ECI, is shamelessly repeating the rhetoric and he will ensure free and fair elections,” Roy told HT.
“He has also alleged that the 2019 elections were not free and fair in West Bengal. The question is whether such wild allegations of the governor are endorsed by the ECI. Isn’t the governor, who is otherwise a magnificent cipher, not only stepping out of his jurisdiction but is also transgressing into the jurisdiction of the ECI?” said Roy.
Roy was among the five TMC MPs who made an appeal to the President in December seeking Dhankhar’s removal.
“In exercise of your power conferred under Article 156(1) of the Constitution of India, you may be graciously pleased to kindly consider withdrawing your pleasure for holding the office of Governor of West Bengal by Hon’ble Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar for a serious breach of oath of his office.....,” read the letter the MPs wrote to Ram Nath Kovind.
Though increasing acrimony has marked the relationship between the Bengal government and the Governor House, Dhankhar told the media on Saturday that neither he nor chief minister Mamata Banerjee were aware of any tension between them.
