Bengal CM, governor exchange barbs again

KOLKATA: In a veiled attack on governor Jagdeep Dhankar, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that certain individuals are “acting like BJP mouthpieces”.

“In my state also you have seen what is going on. Just like a parallel administration they want to run,” a visibly unhappy Banerjee told media persons in reply to a question on Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s role in the promulgation of president’s rule in the western state.

The latest trigger for Banerjee’s comment came as Dhankhar visited Singur in Hooghly district and interacted with employees at the BDO office and common people. Banerjee said, “The Centre must work as per constitutional provisions, state government should also work as per the constitutional provisions.

Reacting sharply to Mamata’s remarks on Thursday, Dhankar said his visits to certain places in the state were triggering political reactions probably because people wanted to “hide the truth.”

Dhankhar , who has been having constant run-ins with the Banerjee government, announced that he could go to severe Cyclone Bulbul-hit areas, if “required”. “Nobody should do politics over distribution of relief material. Relief material should be distributed irrespective of political identities,” Banerjee had said at the administrative review meeting on Wednesday. Meanwhile, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh extended support to Dhankhar and said the TMC government should stop politicising cyclone relief work.