Senior IPS officers and bureaucrats expressed disappointment over the manner in which Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar pulled up Barrackpore police commissioner Manoj Verma in public for allegedly “reading newspaper” at a programme here on Thursday.
While leaving the venue at Gandhi Ghat after the programme to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Dhankhar accosted Verma with a volley of charges, ranging from reading newspaper to deteriorating law and order. As TV cameras were nearby, the governor’s tirade against the top cop, who kept saying “I am sorry, sir”, was recorded and later telecast.
“This was unprecedented and uncalled for. If he (Dhankhar) had a genuine grouse, he could have told him in person instead of making a spectacle out of it,” said a senior IPS officer. “Why shout in public? This is unbecoming of a constitutional head.”
Verma came in the line of fire at the Barrackpore event, which is celebrated every year on the day the Father of the Nation was gunned down. Senior government officials and ministers attend the programme, where the governor has always been the chief guest.
After speaking to reporters at the end of the programme, Dhankhar picked on Verma, a 1998-batch IPS officer.
“You are sitting on the front row reading newspaper! Such casual, farcical, improper approach! The governor is here! Martyr’s Day is here! The death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi… Shame on us. Send me the list of all people,” Dhankhar was heard ranting.
“I am really worried. It is a serious lapse. How can it happen on this day. Are we living in a state governed by rural folks? If people are in uniform doing this, where are we heading?” he added.
Later Dhankhar tweeted: “....I was appalled that amidst chanting of religious mantras senior police personnel in uniform in front row kept on casually and freely reading newspapers. How can this indecorous act be by men in uniform.”
Several officers, who were present at the venue, said on condition of anonymity that Dhankhar had probably over-reacted as the officers showed him due respect and behaved as per protocol during the programme.
Besides, Verma was not in the front row, where the governor was seated with his wife.
“Some newspapers might have been kept on the chairs and maybe, one or two officers picked them up and kept on their lap. There was no question of any on-duty officer reading a newspaper while the VIP is sitting right in the front on the dais,” said a senior officer.
“At times people over-react because of illusion of grandeur,” added the officer.
Several top IAS officers said they always tried to avoid any chance meeting with the Raj Bhavan occupant. “The fact that civil and police administrations want to steer clear of him got clear on the Republic Day programme at Raj Bhavan as only a handful of officers turned up,” said a senior IAS officer.
According to him, most of the officers — spotted that evening at Raj Bhavan — had come with the chief minister and left with her.
“Who wants to be caught in the battle between Raj Bhavan and Nabanna?” said a senior IAS officer, referring to the regular spats between the governor and the ruling establishment.
Since assuming the office of governor, Dhankhar has made it a habit to criticise the state government and accuse the senior officers of not giving him due respect. In his comments and tweets, he has not spared the top officials like chief secretary, home secretary, DGP and others.
“So, most of us avoid meeting him to escape embarrassing moments,” said an officer.
