Kolkata: West Bengal Speaker Biman Banerjee slammed Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for ‘trying to use the Assembly premises to serve political interests’ and said Monday that the latter should be aware of his constitutional limitations.
Referring to the birth anniversary programme of BR Ambedkar’s at the Assembly premises last week where Dhankhar had slammed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, Biman Banerjee, who has been at loggerheads with the governor on several occasions in the past, said he should know where to stop.
“The governor should abide by the constitutional norms. He should know where to stop. He should be well aware of his constitutional limits. He was using the Assembly premises to serve a political purpose. I don’t think what he did (that day) was right,” the speaker said.
The Constitution clearly states a separate set of duties for the governor, the chief minister and the speaker. Dhankar should remember that, asserted Banerjee.
Dhankhar had criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for the ‘worsening law and order situation’. He had said the people do not deserve a state known only for violence, where bureaucracy has been politicised and the Constitution is disregarded.
The speaker, who was standing next to Dhankhar at the Assembly premises as he spoke to the reporters, had hit out saying it was not a press conference.
“The honourable Governor is here to pay tribute to Dr BR Ambedkar. I would also request the honourable Governor to do that only,” the Speaker had said. Dhankhar had shot back saying, “We live in a country where there is freedom of speech, and everybody is allowed to express their views.”
Banerjee, who recently attended the All India Speakers’ conference, said he had raised the issue of ‘external interference’ in the Assembly’s decisions at the meeting.
“Lately, we have been noticing that whatever decision we are taking as presiding officer of the Assembly is being challenged in the court. I have raised this issue at the conference,” Banerjee said.