Trinamul on Wednesday said it has written to President Ram Nath Kovind, urging him to remove Jagdeep Dhankhar from the post of Bengal governor, accusing the Raj Bhavan occupant of having “failed” to defend the Constitution” and “breached” Supreme Court laws on account of his alleged saffron bias.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Trinamul’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha and one of the signatories, said that ever since Dhankhar came to Bengal last year, he took “to social and mainstream media, tweeting, holding news conferences, participating in televised discussions…wherein he has been commenting on the functioning of the state government, its officers, ministers, the chief minister, and even the Speaker...” “Every such action is in violation of his constitutional authority,” Roy said.

The party furnished a 20-page document, including a six-page missive to Kovind, signed by five of its senior MPs dated December 29.

“The governor holds the office during the pleasure of the President, according to Article 156, Clause 1, of the Constitution. We have asked the President to withdraw the said pleasure, which translates into removing this governor,” Roy said.

The Mamata Banerjee government has been at loggerheads with Dhankhar for over “unprecedented provocations” from Raj Bhavan that are virtual echoes of statements from the BJP. Trinamul sources said Mamata had “had enough”.

Trinamul on Twitter said the governor’s statements “contain blatant political bias ....such tendencies...on the part of the Constitutional Head of the State to openly support a political party strikes at the very root of federalism”.

The BJP’s Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya said Dhankhar was doing his constitutional duties and Trinamul’s action would have no impact. “The President will go by his own understanding,” said Vijayvargiya. “Trinamul is doing this only because it is scared of what is right,” he added.

In its letter to the President, Trinamul cited four Supreme Court rulings to substantiate its argument. In a 14-page annexure, the party cited 50-odd instances, 27 of them from December alone, of Dhankhar’s alleged lapses.

“A constitutional head chosen by the Centre cannot interfere in the functioning of the state like this...he is not fit to occupy the seat (of governor),” said Roy.