'Disturbed' by posts, Mamata blocks Bengal Guv on Twitter
Kolkata: Accusing Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of tapping phones and threatening officers on several occasions, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blocked him from her Twitter account on Monday.
"I apologise for it in advance. He (Jagdeep Dhankhar) tweets something every day abusing me or my officers. He states unconstitutional and unethical things. He instructs and advises. The elected government has become a bonded labour. That's why I have blocked him from my Twitter account. I was getting irritated every day," Banerjee said at a press conference on Monday.
She reiterated that she had written at least four letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about him (Jagdeep Dhankhar) but he has not been withdrawn. "He is not listening and has been threatening everyone. I have even been to him and spoken to him. We have been patiently suffering for the past one-and-a-half-years. He has not cleared several files and has kept most of them pending. How can he speak about policy decisions," questioned Banerjee.
"Why has the PM not removed him [Governor]? Pegasus is running from the Governor's house. He is tapping phones," she claimed.
Earlier in the day, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said that he had requested President Ram Nath Kovind to remove Governor Dhankhar from Bengal. Bandyopadhyay said Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu was also present when he made the appeal.
The TMC MP's request to remove the governor came on the first day of the Budget session of Parliament.
TMC has decided to place a 'Substantive Motion' in the Rajya Sabha criticising the actions of the Bengal Governor.
Meanwhile, soon after Banerjee's press conference, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office read: "Every morning and evening he (Bengal Governor) tweets accusing and attacking us. As if he is the only supreme and we are bonded labourers. I cannot take it. I blocked him today on Twitter. Pegasus is being done from Raj Bhavan. Phones are being randomly tapped."
Banerjee further claimed that Dhankhar has been regularly calling government officers to meet him and has been threatening them. "From Commissioner of Police to DGP, from Chief
Secretary to Home Secretary and Principal Secretaries as well as DMs to SPs, he is threatening all. But he should know that the people of the state never bow down to such threats," she thundered.
Referring to the recent murder of a Trinamool Congress leader at Noapara in North 24-Parganas, Banerjee accused the Governor of instigating BJP to carry out violence in Bengal.
Interestingly, Banerjee's decision to block Dhankhar's Twitter account came just a day after the latter had appealed to the Chief Minister to forget her ego and come for a discussion.
Soon after the Chief Minister's announcement of blocking Dhankhar from her Twitter account, the Governor took to Twitter and wrote: "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."
