Refuting charges of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) that he was running a parallel government in the West Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he was yet to hold a meeting with the chief secretary of the state even after completion of 50 days since he had assumed charge.
"Some kind of statement has been made, that I am running a parallel government in the state. If I was running a parallel government, then from the airport to circuit house (in Siliguri), I have seen huge cutouts of the chief minister, the cutouts would have been mine. I dismiss the charge," Dhankhar said at a press conference here.
"The state's Chief Secretary has not found time to meet me within the last 50 days....the Chief Minister, under the Constitution, is required to brief the Governor on important developments in the state. Amongst which Cyclone Bulbul is one. I am waiting for the Chief Minister to find time to brief the Governor on these," he said, launching a counter-attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Dhankar was in Siliguri to attend the inaugural function of 8th All India Police Archery Championship organised by Sashastra Seema Bal's Siliguri frontier on Monday.
Further replying to the allegations by the ruling TMC, Dhankhar said that the Governor was a bridge between the centre and the state government.
"A governor is an agent of the centre, he is just a bridge between Centre and state government. The Indian Constitution has given the role of the Governor as an agent of the Centre," he said.
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Earlier, at the all-party meeting called ahead of the winter session of the Parliament, TMC Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on November 16 had alleged that West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar is running a "parallel administration" in the state.
"We (TMC) spoke that the roles of Governors to be discussed on the floor of the house. Governor in West Bengal is running a parallel administration who should not be allowed to function. Each and every day, honourable Governor is exercising his power and moving the States from district to district without intimating the state government. I have raised the issue in the all-party meeting," Bandyopadhyay told reporters in Delhi after the all-party meeting.
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