The dispute between West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Mamata Banerjee-led state government is increasing with each passing day, and the “tweet battle” between the two has intensified. And now Mamata Banerjee wants to include Chief Ministers of other states to support her “cause”. She recently spoke on phone with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR). Once the results of the Assembly elections in the five states are out on 10 March, Banerjee and the other Chief Ministers will decide their next course of action.
A Trinamool MP said, “All three parties of the Maha Vikas Aghadi will meet to stop the BJP from using the central agencies. Telangana Chief Minister KCR has said he would meet Uddhav Thackeray. Stalin has also said that he would meet Mamata Banerjee. The CMs will meet after 10 March.”
Two rounds of Assembly elections have already been held in Uttar Pradesh, while voting has been completed in Uttarakhand and Goa. Apart from Punjab, the ruling BJP is in power in all the four states. The results of the Assembly elections in the five states will be announced on 10 March. The non BJP CMs are waiting to see if the BJP will turn the tide in any state in this election.
After Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s recent decision to prorogue the Assembly session, Mamata Banerjee has spoken out against the Governor. She also called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to pull the rest of the non BJP-ruled state Chief Ministers into the “team”. On the other hand, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has also spoken out against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two Chief Ministers also talked about the Presidential election. Non BJP-ruled Chief Ministers are keen to field a candidate for the President’s post. Later on, they will seek to force the Congress to support their candidate.
In a reply to Stalin’s “against the rule” comment, Governor Dhankhar on Sunday said that Stalin’s “harsh hurtful observations” on the adjournment of state Assembly session “are not in the least in conformity with facts”. Dhankhar tweeted, “Find it unusually expedient to respectfully invite indulgent attention of TN CM @mkstalin that his extremely harsh hurtful observations are not in the least in conformity with facts- attached order. Assembly was prorogued at express request.” Earlier, Stalin tweeted criticizing his decision to adjourn the state assembly. He described the Governor’s announcement as “against the rule”. On Sunday, the Governor retweeted that he had acted in accordance with the rules. Dhankhar claimed on Saturday that he had the right to exercise this power under Article 164 of the Constitution. Following this, Stalin had tweeted, “The act of #WestBengal Governor to prorogue the WB Assembly Session is without any propriety expected from the exalted post and goes against the established norms and conventions. The ‘symbolic’ head of the state should be the role model to uphold the constitution. The beauty of democracy lies in extending mutual respect to each other.”
Stalin said on Sunday he received a call from his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, adding that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo proposed a meeting of all non-BJP Chief Ministers. “Beloved Didi @MamataOfficial telephoned me to share her concern and anguish on the Constitutional overstepping and brazen misuse of power by the Governors of non-BJP ruled states. She suggested for a meeting of Opposition CMs,” Stalin posted on Twitter.
