Have Exhausted all Attempts to Reach out to Mamata Banerjee, Says Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is at loggerheads with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state, said on Saturday that all attempts to reach out to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were exhausted as there was no response from her office on his requests for a dialogue.

Stating that a chief minister should be in regular communication with the governor of the state, Dhankhar said he is still hopeful of a positive response from Banerjee.

".@MamataOfficial. As Governor after exhausting back channels I engaged in outreach to CM by publicly inviting her to Discussions and Dialogue at her chosen place, time, date as this the only constitutional way," Dhankhar said in a tweet.

"CM sd (should) not be incommunicado to Guv. Am sure there wd (would) b +ve (positive) response," he added.

Dhankhar is being blamed by TMC for delaying clearance of pending bills which had led to an abrupt two-day adjournment of the state assembly earlier this week, opening a new front for hostilities.

Later speaking at the India Today Conclave East, Dhankhar said he was not at in a combative relation with the state government but it was the other way around.

"That the governor is at loggerheads with the state government is a narrative of the other side. This governor is not at loggerheads with any government. It is actually the state government, more than half-a-dozen (of its) ministers, the speaker who are at loggerheads with me. I am at the receiving end," Dhankhar said at the event.

The governor said that he cannot keep on appreciating the chief minister to be in the news headlines as there are occasions when there are political murders which are shown as suicides, which worry him.

"I appreciated her (the CM's role) for dealing with the situation after Cyclone Bulbul and the next day it made the headlines. I get publicity when I praise for the CM but I cannot do that all the time," he said.

On the ongoing conflict between his office and the state government within the short span of time since he assumed office, Dhankhar referred to the recent incident when he had to wait in front of the locked Assembly gate. He had gone to the Assembly to look into its facilities and visit the library.

"It is unfortunate if a governor as the constitutional head goes to the Assembly after sending notice to the Speaker and the gate is locked. I have never seen such a scene anywhere in the country. It puts democracy to shame. I do not know why they (TMC government) did it and what was the purpose. But can you contemplate such a situation in democracy?," Dhankhar said.

"In the 150th year (birth anniversary) of Mahatma Gandhi I think the Swachh Bharat (campaign) needs to started from the Assembly building. I literally mean (to clean) the garbage lying around. I have had enough of it. (There is) no occasion for me to be metaphoric," he added.