The Trinamool Congress today alleged that West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was "overstepping" his authority on the "instruction" of the Centre.
The party claimed that the Additional Chief Secretary to Tripathi wrote a letter to the Malda divisional commissioner on January 31 asking him to inform the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Murshidabad to be present at a meeting on law and order situation in the district, and border areas and other development issues.
"The letter clearly establishes the fact that the governor is trying to directly meet the officials bypassing the state government. He is being instructed by Delhi," TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said outside the Parliament.
The TMC alleged that by bypassing the state government, the Centre was not only violating the federal structure of the Constitution but also setting a "dangerous precedent".
"The governor is advised by the council of ministers. By writing a letter directly to officials of the state, he is setting a dangerous precedent. The governor cannot be a pracharak of RSS. He cannot hold sakhas in Raj Bhavan," TMC leader Derek O'Brien told reporters outside the Parliament.
The opposition party said that this was not the first time that constitutional authorities "misused" their powers.
The party also accused the government of ignoring the recommendations of the Sarkaria committee on Centre-state relations.
"It is happening everywhere -- in West Bengal, in Tripura. The Centre is trying to make unitary state. There are elected state governments. You cannot break the federal structure of the Constitution," O'Brien said.
Stating that there had been multiple attempts of the Central government to interfere with the federal structure of the Constitution, the TMC tried to raise the issue in both the Houses of Parliament today.
In Rajya Sabha, O'Brien gave a notice on the issue, while in Lok Sabha, TMC member Saugata Roy gave notices for adjournment motion and Zero Hour discussion on it.
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