TMC’s Mahua Moitra hits back as Dhankhar rejects charge of nepotism in jobs at Raj Bhavan
West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday refuted Krishnanagar Trinamul Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s allegations a day before of his nepotism in the appointment of his family members, relatives and acquaintances as the officers on special duty (OSD) for six different roles at his office: Raj Bhavan.
Mr Dhankhar pointed out the OSDs’ roots to “three states and four different castes” and slammed Ms Moitra’s attack as a “distraction strategy” to divert his attention from the poor law and order situation in the state under chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s rule.
He tweeted, “Assertion @MahuaMoitra in tweet & Media that six coterminous appointee OSDs in personal staff are relatives is FACTUALLY WRONG. OSDs are from three states and belong to four different castes. None of them is part of close family. Four of them are not from my caste or state.”
On Sunday Ms Moitra tweeted the names of the six OSDs in a list alleging Abbhudoy Singh Shekhawat, designated as OSD to Governor, as the “son” of Mr Dhankhar’s brother-inlaw while claiming Akhil Chowdhury, posted as the OSD Coordination, to have “Close family relation with Governor.”
The rest, the TMC MP argued, are Ruchi Dubey, the OSD Administration, is the “wife of Major Gorang Diksit, Ex ADC to Governor,” Prashant Diksit, the OSD Protocol, is “brother” of Maj Diksit, Koustav S Valikar is the OSD IT, is the “brother-in-law of present ADC to Governor Srikant Janardan Rao” and Kishan Dhankhar, a “newly appointed OSD,” is a “close relative of the Governor.”
Mr Rao is a 2015-batch IPS officer of the West Bengal cadre in rank of a superintendent of police.
Mr Dhankhar added, “This is unfolding of “distraction strategy” to divert attention from alarming law and order scenario @MamataOfficial. Would continue undeterred and with zeal to serve the people of state and vindicate my oath of office under Article 159 of the Constitution.”
Hitting back at Mr Dhankhar immediately Ms Moitra teased him as “Uncleji” again and sought him to reveal the “antecedents” of the six and how they were appointed as the OSDs to “come clean.”
“Asking Uncleji to lay out right here what antecedents of the appointees are & how each one got into Raj Bhavan. Do it NOW. BJP IT Cell can’t get you out of this one Uncleji..And I don’t think Vice President of India also happening for you,” she tweeted.
Assertion @MahuaMoitra in tweet & Media that six coterminous appointee OSDs in personal staff are relatives is FACTUALLY WRONG. OSDs are from three states and belong to four different castes.
— Jagdeep Dhankhar