Kolkata: A day after West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar slammed Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee, the latter hit back on Wednesday by saying that the Governor will have to spell out the reason if he wants to come to the Assembly voluntarily.
After paying tribute to B.R. Ambedkar at the Assembly premises on the occasion of National Voters’ Day on Tuesday, Dhankhar had said: “The Speaker thinks he has the licence to speak anything about the Governor. Has he become a law unto himself? I will not tolerate such indiscretion. The Speaker should not henceforth blackout the address of the Governor. If he does it, he will face the music.”
The Governor was referring to two previous incidents when his speech was ‘blacked out’ in the Assembly.
Alleging that the Governor used the Assembly as a political platform, Banerjee said on Wednesday, “He (Dhankhar) wanted to come to the Assembly and we brought him with all dignity and respect. But I never had this feeling that he would use the Assembly as a platform to make political speeches. Next time if he wants to come, we will ask for the reason.”
“The Governor, as well the state government, has some constitutional protocol which we must accept. But beyond his constitutional obligation, if he wants to come to the Assembly, we will ask for the reason. We need to find out why he wants to come,” Banerjee said.
“I have worked with different Governors and they have gone to the press corner even, but no one behaved like this. The Governor might have something to say, but for that he should call people to the Raj Bhawan. Next time we will think before allowing him in the Assembly,” the Speaker said.
“I was little away from him and so I couldn’t hear everything. I have asked for the CD from the media. Let me examine the recordings and then I shall take a decision,” he added.
Alleging that the claims made by Dhankhar were far from the truth, the Speaker said, “Whatever I have written in the letter is true. The Assembly doesn’t know the fate of the Bills I have mentioned in my letter. It is a protocol that the Assembly should know what has happened to the Bills. We need to be informed if they are sent to the President or are rejected, but nothing has been told to us. Whatever he said yesterday was not true.”
The controversy erupted on Tuesday after Dhankhar hammered Banerjee, alleging that the Speaker has not only broken all the constitutional norms and protocols, but has also forgotten how to speak.
“He thinks he is above the Governor. Who is the Constitutional head? Does he not know Article 168 — the Governor is number one in the legislature, second in the House. I hope good sense prevails,” Dhankhar had said.
(IANS)
