West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar lashed out at the state Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee Tuesday and accused him of not providing him information about Assembly proceedings, while maintaining no file was pending with him with respect to any bill or government recommendation.
The Governor’s statement evoked a sharp response from the Assembly Speaker who called his remarks “disrespectful”. Dhankhar visited the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday to pay tributes to the statue of BR Ambedkar. “It is being said that I have blocked various bills. I want to make it clear, I don’t have any bills stuck. If the bill is sent to me, it is sent within 48 hours. But here one complaint after another is being made. That is not a good example for democracy. It is alleged that the bill, which was not approved by the President, was also withheld. When I asked for information, it was not sent to me properly.”
Criticizing Banerjee for not providing him information that he had sought for in the past, he said, “The information of the Assembly is not sent to me. On the contrary, the information sent by Raj Bhavan regarding the appointment of Lokayukta Recruitment Information Commissioner and the appointment of the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission was not given. After that, it will be said, I am not cooperating with the state government,” he added.
Dhankhar also said that Banerjee was directly accusing him. “I am being accused of withholding the bill which the President did not agree to. When I ask for information, it is not sent to me properly.”
He said, “I have tried a lot, so that everyone works according to the law. Government officers have forgotten how to work under the law. But they don’t know what the Governor House can do.”
Describing the state of law and order in Bengal as “horrific and frightening”, Dhankhar said that the people of the state do not have the freedom to exercise their franchise in a free manner.
Hitting back, Banerjee said, “The governor came to lay a tribute at the statue of Ambedkar. But when he came here, he laid a tribute at the statue and said a lot of critical things about the Assembly. I think it’s very disrespectful. The bill he is talking about — the Howrah Municipality Bill — has not been passed. He says the President has rejected the mass beating bill. We have no information (about that). We don’t have any information about the other bills either. The legislature is a place where all the information needs to come. I don’t know how he said that.”
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