Centre filling up Constitutional posts with political persons: Hakim

Kolkata: Firhad Hakim, the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister, attacked the Centre for its attempt of filling up Constitutional posts with political persons.

This comes at the backdrop of Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi's statement on Thursday, who said: "Enough harsh words have been said. They should stop throwing mud on the office of the Governor. They should go to the washroom. Look at their faces in the mirror and remove the dirt from their faces."

It may be mentioned that the Governor made the statement in connection with the ongoing controversy of his alleged attempt to bypass the state government in administrative matters and the issue had cropped up in the state Assembly on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, MP Derek O'Brien had raised the issue in Parliament and gave a notice under Rule 267 to discuss the matter in Rajya Sabha. Trinamool Congress' plea was rejected and the house was adjourned, when O'Brien had protested over the matter during "zero hour".

When asked for his reaction in this connection, Hakim said: "This is unfortunate that his (Governor's) statement is politically motivated and such statements are coming from Raj Bhavan."

He further said that such a development is harmful for the federal structure of the country. "The posts of President and Governor are constitutional ones. We always pay the highest respect to the posts of President, Governor and the Supreme Court and High Court. These are above politics. But the present government in the Centre is attempting to turn the Constitutional posts into political ones."

Partha Chatterjee, the Parliamentary Affairs minister, said that he is an elderly person and age is a factor. So it is useless to get further involved into any controversy in this connection.

It may be mentioned that Satish Chandra Tewary, Additional Chief Secretary to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, wrote a letter stating that "this is to inform that the Hon'ble Governor desires that the Inspector General of Police, Murshidabad, should also be present during the meeting at Circuit House on 6.02.18."