KOLKATA: Bengal assembly speaker Biman Banerjee has complained to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against state governor Jagdeep Dhankhar about the latter’s attempts to “interfere in the administration of the state assembly”.
“Governor Dhankhar is trying to interfere in the administration of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly,” Banerjee said during a virtual meeting on Wednesday.
The complaint has no precedence in Bengal’s legislative history.
There was no response from Dhankhar, who was in north Bengal, till Wednesday evening.
The governor was meddling into assembly administrative affairs that happened to be the speaker’s “exclusive domain”, Banerjee said.
“Media persons recently complained about being manhandled by CRPF personnel providing security to some MLAs.
I issued an order prohibiting CRPF entry into the assembly as the media was feeling threatened.
The governor then sought an explanation from me and wanted to know about the inquiry I made before issuing the order.
Can he do so? I mentioned the matter to LS Speaker Birla,” Banerjee said on Wednesday.
Banerjee’s allegation came ahead of the state budget session, likely to beg-in on July 2.
The speaker also complained that the governor was sitting on bills passed in the assembly and sent to him for consent.
“He does not send them back to the government nor does he forward it to the President of India for his consent,” Banerjee said.
The state assembly was adjourned for two days in December 2019 and the winter session concluded sine die over the “delay” in consent.
The governor later denied the allegation, saying he had a series of communications with the departments concerned but did not get a proper answer to his queries.
The speaker cited two pieces of legislation — the West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 and the Dunlop India Ltd (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Bill, 2016 — still lying with Raj Bhavan.
“We are yet to get any communication from the governor,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee also seized the opportunity to point out in the speakers’ meeting how the protracted eight-phase polls in Bengal took a toll of people and MLAs.
“Our CM, Mamata Banerjee, pleaded with the Election Commission to club the last three phases of elections but they did not listen,” Banerjee told TOI.
Bengal politicians reacted on party lines over the assembly speaker’s complaint.
Trinamool MLA Tapas Ray felt the governor was “crossing his brief”.
But Bengal BJP president and MP Dilip Ghosh said the Trinamool did not “like the governor’s face”.