Bengal guv, TMC govt in fresh tussle over locked state assembly gate

An irate Bengal governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, slammed the Mamata Banerjee government on Thursday after he found that the assembly gate designated for the governor’s

An irate Bengal governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, slammed the Mamata Banerjee government on Thursday after he found that the assembly gate designated for the governor’s entry had been locked and staff at the legislature were hesitant in opening it without orders from their superiors.

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Dhankhar said that the speaker’s office had told Raj Bhavan that the governor was “most welcome” to visit the assembly but the speaker would not be present in the House as the session had been adjourned. After voicing his grievances in front of the closed gate, Dhankhar entered the House through a different gate. He, however, found all rooms, including that of the Speaker, closed.

Hitting back at the governor, state parliamentary affairs minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, “If he came to the assembly to enjoy architecture, he could better have gone to the Victoria Memorial Hall. His intentions are entirely different and that is to create chaos.”

Meanwhile, speaking at an event in the city, chief minister Mamata Banerjee referred to the recent controversy over the formation of the short-lived Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra and said“A parallel government is being run. What’s going on in my state is of 100% greater magnitude than (what happened) in Maharashtra.”