The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal on Monday hit out at governor C V Ananda Bose and accused him of being a consultant of the Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP), a day after he condemned a current assault on a convoy of a Union minister within the state – in a improvement that will presumably finish the transient spell of bonhomie that the 2 sides have shared up to now.
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On Sunday, Bose condemned the assault on the convoy of Union minister of state for residence, Nisith Pramanik, in Cooch Behar a day earlier and mentioned “anti-social parts which attempt to take legislation into their fingers will likely be handled sternly”.
“I’ve held confidential enquiries within the matter and personally mentioned with… Pramanik. It’s stunning that such incidents occurred in a land which is thought for its refined tradition and enviable historical past of civilised conduct,” he mentioned in a press release.
“Protest is part of democracy, however violence is just not part of civilised conduct. Anti-social parts which attempt to take legislation into their fingers will likely be handled sternly. Violence will likely be rooted-out ruthlessly. The Structure must be upheld by all those that are dedicated to take action. Bengal expects each officer to do his obligation, with out worry or favour, be he within the police or magistracy or any wing of governance,” he added.
In its mouthpiece Jago Bangla on Monday, the TMC alleged Bose was following the footsteps of his predecessor and now Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, with whom the Mamata Banerjee-led authorities had at all times shared a fractious relationship.
“That the governor is a consultant of the BJP to implement the social gathering’s secret agenda, former governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had proved it. The current governor has entered the race to observe the footsteps of the previous governor,” the social gathering mentioned in its editorial.
HT reached out to Raj Bhavan for a response however didn’t get one instantly.
The TMC additionally raised questions on the governor’s “confidential enquiries” in reference to the assault on the convoy. It sought to know why the governor didn’t converse with the state authorities too.
“The governor is giving one-sided statements. What does he imply by confidential enquiries? Did he come to the conclusion solely after talking with Pramanik? Will he not converse with the state administration? Will he not discover out what the bottom actuality was? The folks of Bengal need the governor to be unbiased,” the editorial mentioned.
“…It needs to be remembered that the governor was a BJP employee,” it added.
The TMC’s assault on Bose got here after an preliminary part of bonhomie between Raj Bhavan and the chief minister’s workplace that highlighted the turnaround within the hostility between the 2 sides for 3 years, when Dhankhar served as Bengal governor between July 2019 and 2022.
Chief minister Banerjee typically accused Dhankhar of doing the BJP’s bidding. In January 2022, the TMC had requested former president Ram Nath Kovind to take away Dhankhar from the governor’s submit.
Earlier this month, Bose kicked off the finances session of the state meeting with a glowing speech of the TMC authorities’s achievements, whilst BJP leaders sloganeered and walked out in protest.
He additionally heaped praises on the chief minister. On February 6, at a perform the place Banerjee acquired an honorary physician of literature diploma from Kolkata’s St Xavier’s College, Bose in contrast her to different “statesmen and politicians” who have been writers, akin to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, APJ Abdul Kalam, and Winston Churchill.
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“Because the folks of West Bengal, we’re very glad as we have now chief minister Mamata Banerjee on this distinguished league,” he mentioned through the occasion.
On January 26, Banerjee had attended a ceremony on the event of Saraswati Puja on the governor’s residence.
“The governor is so good, and together with his relationship being superb with the state authorities, I feel there is not going to be any extra issues,” the chief minister had mentioned.
In December 2022, days after Bose took oath as governor on November 23, Banerjee described him as a “good gentleman” and mentioned that he was “cooperating with the state authorities”.
The rising ties between the 2 sides had irked the state BJP leaders. State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar later referred to as on the governor at Raj Bhavan.
Reacting to TMC’s editorial piece, state BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya mentioned: “It is a manifestation of the TMC’s style, tradition and angle in direction of the Indian Structure.”