Now, Bengal Governor invites Mamata for discussions

Kolkata, Jan 30 (IANS) Days after West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress mulled on moving a "substantive motion" in the Parliament against Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, he on Sunday appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to sit for discussion.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should work according to the Constitution. I shall request the Chief Minister to take out time and sit for discussion. There is no place for conflict in democracy. In democracy, people who are sitting on the top should work in tandem so that it can help the people in general. There is no place for arrogance in democracy. The way the Chief Minister makes comments on the governor is not correct. We should sit for discussion and find a solution to it," Dhankhar said in a programme at Barrackpore on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Appealing to the Chief Minister to establish rule of law in the state, he said: "The state has become a gas chamber and this I shall not tolerate. I cannot allow the state to be blood stained."

He also questioned again about the fund for the "Maa" canteen the Chief Minister designed to provide low-cost meals to the poor people of the state.

The Governor's statement comes at a time when the Trinamool is mulling to move a "substantive motion" in the Parliament during the upcoming Budget Session against the his "interference" in the running of the state. The ruling party might demand for the removal of the Governor in the Parliament.

The conflict between the Governor and the state government reached a flashpoint after Dhankhar openly criticised the state government and the Speaker at the assembly on Tuesday.

"The Speaker... thinks he has license 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 had said.

He was referring to two previous incidents when his speech was blacked out in the Assembly.

Dhankhar didn't spare the Chief Minister and the ruling party even. Hitting out at the Chief Minister and the bureaucracy, he had said: "For the last two years, the Chief Minister has not replied to any information sought. Bureaucracy has to be held accountable. The bureaucracy is politically committed. Are they to follow the diktats of an individual?"

On the National Voters Day, he had 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 don't have the freedom to exercise their votes freely."

"We have seen post-poll violence of unprecedented level, those who dared to vote according to their own volition had to pay the price with their life," he said.