War of Words: Dhankhar slams Bengal Speaker; latter hits back

The ongoing row between West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee reached an unceremonious low on Tuesday when the former hammered Banerjee alleging that the Speaker has not only broken all the constitutional norms and protocols but has also forgotten how to speakThe Speaker thinks he has the licence to speak anything about the Governor Has he become a law unto himself I will not tolerate such indiscretion The Speaker should not henceforth blackout the address of the Governor If he does it he will face the music Dhankhar saidThe Governor was referring to two previous incidents when his speech was blacked out in the AssemblyDhankhar was speaking at the Assembly where he came to offer floral tributes to BR Ambedkar on the occasion of National Voters Day on TuesdayThe Speaker cannot be allowed to be a law unto himself He thinks he is above the Governor Who is the Constitutional head Does he not know Article 168 Governor is number one in the legislature second in the House and I hope good sense prevails Dhankhar saidBanerjee who was shocked and dismayed over the Governors behaviour in the Assembly told the media The Governor said he would pay floral tributes But he held a press conference I was stunned that the Governor made critical statements on several issues related to the Assembly while paying tribute to Ambedkar I think this is extremely uncourteous This goes beyond any kind of protocol and decorumInterestingly while the ruling Trinamool Congress has claimed several times that the development of the state has been delayed because the Governor refused to sign many files Dhankhar openly said that there is no file pending with the Raj BhawanNo file is pending with me I have raised questions and sent back files to the state government There has been no response from the government Unless they respond to my questions they will have a tough time Before invoking my powers I would want every answer well in advance Dhankhar saidWhen asked about it the Speaker said We have written several letters on this issue and every word of the letters is true He wants specific words to be included in the Bills without which he would not sign them He is just delaying the Bills He is not the only Governor We have worked with several Governors but there has been no resistance We had cordial relations and no Governor had made such statements I do not understand who the Governor is representingDhankhar didnt even spare the ruling party and its Chief Minister Mamata BanerjeeHitting out at Banerjee and the bureaucracy the Governor said For the last two years the Chief Minister has not replied to any information sought The bureaucracy has to be held accountable The bureaucracy is politically committed Are they to follow the diktat of an individualSpeaking on the National Voters Day the Governor said The voters should have the right to exercise the franchise freely and fearlessly but unfortunately enough that is not the case in West Bengal Here people dont have the freedom to exercise their franchise freelyWe have seen postpoll violence of unprecedented level those who dared to vote according to their own volition had to pay the price with their life Dhankhar allegedMaintaining that a factfinding committee appointed by the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission following order from the Calcutta High Court had observed that rule of the ruler and not the law prevails in the state the Governor said This is an understatement West Bengals situation is so horrible and frightening that there is horror about the ruler hereThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever