Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday “prorogued” the state Assembly ahead of the budget session, a move that could snowball into another round of confrontation with the state government.

In the upcoming budget session, the ruling Trinamul was mulling a resolution against the governor. Trinamul MPs have already placed demands for the governor's recall before President Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“In exercise of the powers conferred upon me by sub-clause (a) of clause (2) of article 174 of the Constitution, I, Jagdeep Dhankhar, governor of the state of West Bengal, hereby prorogue the West Bengal legislative Assembly with effect from 12 February 2022,” Dhankhar tweeted early on Saturday.

After the last session of the Assembly held in November, the Assembly was not prorogued as is the procedure, but was adjourned sine die. The budget session of the Assembly can only begin with a notification from the governor, which would not be possible as the previous session was not prorogued.

The Article 174 grants power to the governor to prorogue the House or dissolve the Assembly, the latter step is taken when there is a constitutional breakdown in the state or elections are due.

“The governor cannot take the decision to prorogue the Assembly without the approval from the council of ministers,” Justice (Retd) Asok Ganguly told a news channel.

The governor in another tweet clarified he had acted on the advice of the council of ministers.

“In view of inappropriate reporting in a section of media it is indicated that taking note of govt recommendation seeking proroguing of assembly, Guv in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by article 174 (2)(a) the Constitution has prorogued WBLA w.e.f. Feb 12,2022,” Dhankhar tweeted.

The ruling Trinamul has described the move as a “routine exercise.”

Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay questioned why the governor took to Twitter to announce a routine decision.