Army jawans being deployed at Palsit toll plaza to check vehicles in Burdwan district of West Bengal. Pic/PTI

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi on Saturday disapproved of Mamata Banerjee’s remarks on the deployment of army at toll plazas, prompting a sharp retaliation from the Chief Minister who said his comments were unfortunate and that he was speaking in Centre’s voice.

After Banerjee took on the Army and the Centre over the past two days that triggered a spat, Tripathi said, “Every person should take care in making allegations against a responsible organisation like Army. Don’t let down the Army. Don’t defame the Army. ”Describing Tripathi’s statement as “unfortunate”, Banerjee said, “The Governor is speaking in the voice of the Central Government! He was not in the city for about eight days. Before making statements, all details should have been checked. It is very unfortunate,” she said in a statement on Saturday.

The presence of Army personnel at toll plazas had triggered a row with Banerjee questioning if it was an “army coup”, drawing a stinging condemnation from the Centre which said the remark showed her “political frustration”.
Banerjee had claimed that Army personnel were taking money from vehicles, which they were not supposed to do.