Mamata Banerjee alleges West Bengal governor is delaying signing of government files
The chief minister said Jagdeep Dhankar has been asking her to get the files cleared by the state Cabinet.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has not been signing files, reported India Today. Banerjee said that the governor has been asking her to get the files cleared by the state Cabinet
“He needs to understand that the chief minister is the face of the Cabinet,” she said. “I don’t know why he is doing this.”
The West Bengal governor and chief minister have had a long-running feud. Banerjee has frequently accused Dhankhar of interfering in the day-to-day functioning of the Trinamool Congress-ruled state government.
As recently as on Saturday, Dhankhar had returned the chief minister’s recommendation to convene a session of the state Assembly from March 7, according to The Times of India.
In a tweet on Sunday, Dhankhar said he had returned the recommendation as it was in “ignorance of constitutional rules of business” that require the state Cabinet to approve the summoning of the Assembly.
Surely as distinguished parliamentarian @Sukhendusekhar is aware that under article 163 “Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as the head aids and advises the Governor in exercise of his functions.’
— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) February 20, 2022
Expect him to take appropriate steps rather than generates optics.
Trinamool Congress National Spokesperson Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said the recommendation to convene a session of the Assembly had been made by the chief minister and endorsed by the state parliamentary affairs minister, according to the Times of India .
“How come he [the governor] inferred that it did not have the sanction of the cabinet,” Roy said.
On February 12, Dhankhar had prorogued the state Assembly. Prorogation is discontinuing a session of Parliament or a legislative Assembly without dissolving it.
Following initial reports that he had issued the order without consulting the ruling Trinamool Congress leadership, Dhankhar clarified on Twitter that he had acted on the recommendation of the West Bengal government.
