The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday said it had approached the President seeking the removal of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
TMC Rajya Sabha member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said that a memorandum had been sent to President Ramnath Kovind, asking him to remove Mr. Dhankhar from the post.
Quoting Article 156 (1) of the Constitution which states, “The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President”, he urged the President to “kindly withdraw” his pleasure.
“In exercise of your power conferred under Article 156 ( 1) of the Constitution of India, we respectfully submit, you may be graciously pleased to kindly withdrawing your pleasure for holding the office of Governor of West Bengal by Hon’ Shri Jagdeep Dhankar for serious breach of oath of his office…,” the letter signed by five senior TMC MPs, including Mr. Roy, said.
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The memorandum, dated December 29, stated that Mr. Dhankhar had failed to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.. “From the seat of highest constitutional office in the State, Hon’ble Governor Dhankhar has been inducing divisive politics, just because ruling parties at the Centre and State are political opponents,” the letter signed by Sudip Banerjee, Derek O’ Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, and Kakuli Ghosh Dastidar stated.
‘He has crossed the line’
Speaking to journalists at the party headquarters, Mr. Roy said the manner in which the Governor had targeted the State government had no precedence in the constitutional history of the country. The Governor had crossed the line (Lakshman Rekha) of Constitution, Mr. Roy said.
In the memorandum that runs to 20 pages, the Trinamool Congress leadership not only quoted different phrases used by the Governor against the government but also added several of his tweets and comments made by him in social media.
The development comes at a time when a war of words between the Governor and the party on various issues, including law and order, has become a regular phenomenon. On Wednesday, Mr. Dhankhar alleged politicisation of education and targeted Education Minister Partha Chatterjee.
The memorandum to the President has taken the relations between the party and the Raj Bhawan to a new low. This is the first time since Mr. Dhankhar took over office in July 2019 that the ruling party has officially sought his removal from the high office.
