West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blocked the governor Jagdeep Dhankhar from her Twitter account on Monday, a day after he said the state had become “a gas chamber for democracy”.
Banerjee expressed that she is “disturbed” by his regular posts against her government.
She also alleged that the Governor was acting like a “super guard” and treating government officials as “his servants”.
In response to Banerjee, Dhankar stated that Banerjee’s move was against constitutional norms.
After a cabinet meeting at state headquarters Nabanna, Banerjee said, “I am sorry but I was forced to do this. Every day, he (Dhankar) used to abuse us. He would accuse me and our officers, issuing instructions as if we were his servant or bonded labourers, reported Indian Express.
Mamata Banerjee’s move, which would mean the governor’s posts will no longer show up on her Twitter feed, appeared to have been prompted by Mr Dhankhar’s latest attack on her government at an event to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.
Moments after Mamta,s statement governor Dhankhar cited the Indian constitution and said that Article 159 mandates him to ensure that no one in state blocks the constitutional norms and rules of the law.
“There is no rule of law in Bengal. Only the ruler rules here. It is my responsibility to protect the Constitution,” he said, adding that no amount of “insults” will deter him from performing his “duties”.
The governor, a former leader of BJP has been permanently at odds with Ms Banerjee since his appointment in 2019.
He recently accused the Banerjee and the Speaker of the assembly of breaching constitutional norms by not providing him the information he had sought on multiple matters.
