The Bengal government on Tuesday reacted strongly to a letter written by governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to chief minister Mamata Banerjee asking her to take up the issue of “post-poll violence” at state cabinet meeting and initiate “steps to ensure law and order”.
The governor, who reached Delhi on Tuesday on a three-day visit, sent the letter earlier in the day and also tweeted: “Constrained to conveyed @MamataOfficial that continued silence & inaction over post poll violence, violation of human rights & dignity of women, destruction of property, perpetuation of miseries on political opponents- worst since independence, ill augurs for democracy.”
The government’s strong reaction came after Dhankhar made the letter public.
“The communication format is violative of all established norms. The letter has been written to Hon’ble Chief Minister & released to public media through tweets simultaneously, which disrupts sanctity of such communications,” the state home department tweeted.
“The unusual step of going public in this manner abruptly and unilaterally has shocked the Government of West Bengal all the more because the contents are fabricated,” the tweet went on to state.
The government also said Dhankhar’s letter didn’t contain facts.
The home department tweeted: “Government of West Bengal has observed with dismay and distress that the Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal has suddenly made public, a letter of his to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal, with contents that are not consistent with real facts.”
The government explained that since the chief minister took oath for the third consecutive term, the state cabinet had restored normality in the state.
“While the post-poll violence in the State was somewhat unabated when the Election Commission of India was in charge of the law and order machinery, after the swearing in, the State Cabinet has reigned in the situation, restored normalcy,..” the home department tweeted.