Mamata Banerjee and Jagdeep Dhankar  |  Photo Credit: PTI
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee has blocked Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Twitter, saying she has been “disturbed” by his tweets.
“I have been disturbed by Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s tweets, so have blocked him on the microblogging platform,” the Chief Minister said.
The TMC supremo accused the governor of threatening the state chief secretary and director general of police.
“Everyday he was issuing tweets targeting and threatening government officials as if we are his bonded labourers,” she said.
Responding to the Banerjee’s move, Dhankar cited Article 159 and Article 167 of the Constitution, saying it is “duty” of the Chief Minister to furnish information relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation.
On Sunday, Dhankhar, who has locked horns with the Mamata Banerjee government over several issues since assuming charge in the state, in a fresh attack at the TMC government stated that he cannot see “trampling of human rights” and the state “getting drenched” in violence.
Dhankhar said violence and democracy do not go together, adding that no amount of “insults” will deter him from performing his duties.
“I cannot see the hallowed land of Bengal getting blood drenched (in violence) and becoming a laboratory for trampling of human rights. People are saying that the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy,” Dhankhar said at Gandhi Ghat in North 24 Parganas district as he paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary.
The governor recently accused the Chief Minister and the Speaker of the Assembly of transgressing constitutional norms by not providing him the information he had sought on multiple matters.
He had also described the political condition in the state as “horrible and frightening”.
Dhankhar has been at loggerheads with the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the state on several issues since taking over in July 2019.
Last year, Banerjee had alleged that Dhankhar was a “corrupt man” and was named in the 1996 Hawala Jain case charge sheet. The CM also said that she has, so far, written three letters to the Centre for his removal.