None backs out of the fight
Banerjee, on Thursday evening,
fired the first salvo with a four-page letter pointing out limitations
and duties of the “nominated head of the state” and how she is the
“elected head” of the State.
Banerjee wrote that his
“expostulation” forced her to release these letters in the public domain
for people to judge who has “fragrantly transgressed constitutional
dharma” and “basic norms of decency”.
The first reference made by the CM in her letter is an SMS where the
Governor had expressed dismay at Banerjee’s disregard on points he had
raised about problem areas of the State.
So
far, the Chief Minister, had refrained from directly attacking the
Governor or the Raj Bhavan. It was up to her Cabinet colleagues and
“designated party leaders”.
Dhankhar on his part has been
critical of Banerjee’s functioning as the head of the state, her
repeated skirmishes with the Centre and recently has been unhappy of her
handling the Covid-19 pandemic and related administrative issues.
Governor’s two letters
The Governor countered with two letters to the Chief Minister on Thursday and Friday.
Quoting
constitutional provisions, relevant articles and rules of business,
Dhankhar has listed-out the chief minister’s duty towards the Governor;
accused the Chief Minister of “lapses” and said the State government’s
response to his communications were outrageous.
“There has been
total failure at your end all through….The enormity of the situation and
lapses at your end are that in spite of repeated communications for
compliance you have “black holed” all my communications resulting in
virtual negation of Articles 166 and 167 of the Constitution,” wrote the
Governor adding that the “outrageous, flagrant disrespect of
Constitutional prescriptions” and “the pathetic approach” by the Chief
Minister, it has still not deterred the Governor “to work in
togetherness”.
The Governor maintained that he never had “any
benefit of any advice or input” from either the Chief Minster or her
cabinet colleagues. In fact, Governor has referred to Banerjee’s cabinet
colleagus as “loose cannons” who have used “demeaning language” and the
Chief Minister’s silence in pulling them up is to construed as
“approval”.
The second letter is a 37-point rebuttal of various
accusations made by the Chief Minister. The Governor has time-and-again
raised questions about Mamata Banerjee administration and its attempts
to “cover up” issues related to Covid-19.
The Governor has also raised questions as to why the inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) was not allowed free movement.
“As
a escape route, you thought of being in your favourite pastime of being
in accusatory mode and take to the streets. Let me indicate that in
times of such gigantic crisis, (a) street fighter approach is
counter-productive and has the potential to spell disaster for the
people,” the Governor wrote.
Hitting the streets
On many days during this lockdown period, the West Bengal Chief Minister, has hit the streets for a variety of reasons.
She
had even gone to the market to draw “circles” on the streets to mark
out social distancing norms. She had even gone to hospitals to hand over
sanitisers and face masks to hospitals. Over the last three days she
had again been hitting the streets, in an SUV, going to localities and
urging people to stay indoors.
“She is interacting with people on ground,” said a senior Trinamool Congress.
Opposition
leaders maintain the Chief Minister should not be out on the streets at
a time when there is a pandemic. This, “hitting the streets” is nothing
but a political ploy with no actual administrative outcome. In fact, it
is being done to “divert” attention from administrative failures.
“Uttar
Pradesh has 21 crore people. But, you do not see its Chief Minister
running around on the streets. But, here, the Chief Minister is doing
the job of the police. Why? It is nothing but political posturing. She
is just playing politics,” Dilip Ghosh, MP and President, BJP’s Bengal
unit charged.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com
Post a Comment
We love to hear from you! What's on your mind?