Five TMC MPs sent a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday demanding the immediate removal of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has been on a collision course with the Mamata Banerjee-led government over a number of issues since taking office. last charge. year.
“We maintain that the Governor has failed to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and has repeatedly violated the law declared by the Supreme Court. From the seat of the highest constitutional office in the state, Governor Dhankhar has been inducing divisive policies, just because the ruling parties in the center and the state are political opponents, ”the memo said.
The memo, drafted by TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, was endorsed by MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
“Some of the recent words / statements / tweets / briefings directed against the West Bengal government, the Honorable Chief Minister and the All India Trinamool Congress reflect a blatant disregard for constitutional standards, property and ethics. Some comments are provocative and incite action that could lead to public order problems, ”the letter said.
Citing multiple Supreme Court rulings establishing the role of the Governor, the deputies said: “Such tendencies and inclinations on the part of the Constitutional Head of the state to openly support a political party strike at the very root of the federalism that the Supreme Court has upheld. which is a basic structure of the Constitution of India. “
With Dhankar repeatedly attacking the Mamata Banerjee government for “worsening the public order situation,” the letter read: “We record that West Bengal witnessed 663 political killings between 2001 and 2011 and this was reduced to 113 during the government led by Mamata Banerjee. from 2011 to 2019 (source NCRB). The Maoist-infested areas of Jangalmahal in the South Bengal districts bordering Jharkhand and Odisha were also liberated from the extremist policy of annihilation through administrative initiatives and political processes guaranteed by the Mamata Banerjee government since 2011 ”.
“The endless violent situation in the hills of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik and part of Dooars that prevailed for decades was controlled by the government of West Bengal and since then peace and tranquility has been restored in those areas… Despite All this, Interior Minister Amit Shah spread hoaxes against the West Bengal government during his visits to the state in November and December. His comments on the subject of the law and order situation were repeated and amplified by Governor Shri Dhankar against the state government, which is not only unprecedented, unjustified and unjustified, but also smacks of his hypocrisy to act. under the orders of their masters in Delhi. He does not show the will to protect or defend the constitution, ”said the deputies.
Days after Dhankar tweeted that the West Bengal Police had a “de facto chief” in Surajit Kar Puryakastha, a retired police officer serving as a State Security Adviser, and that the DGP had “capitulated” to the job. of the field police, the parliamentarians wrote in the letter that the Governor “had gone to the extreme of appointing and defaming high officials of the West Bengal police and civil services, thereby denigrating their official positions in the eyes of the people” .
“Shri Dhankar has also not gotten rid of the state legislature. He’s sitting down and refusing to sign a series of bills passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Not only is he not signing the bills, he is even asking the Spokesperson for ‘explanations’. This is a direct insult and an attack on the sovereignty of the state legislature, ”the letter said.
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