West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is one again locked in a spat with the ruling Trinamool Congress. Hours after contending that the law and order scenario in the eastern state was "extremely alarming"', the official has found himself engaging in a tweet was with TMC MP Mahua Moitra, with the latter rather uncharitably dubbing him "uncleji".
In a series of posts, the TMC lawmaker remarked pointedly on his job description and contended that six members of his "extended family" had been appointed as Officers on Special Duty (OSD) to the Raj Bhavan.
Moitra also tweeted out an image with their names and purported relationship with the Governor as well as their present post. While the list shared by Moitra is not available on the Governor's website, some of the mentioned individuals as well as their designations match the official records.
While Dhankhar dubbed this a "distraction strategy" and contended that Moitra's assertions were factually incorrect, she has refused to back down. "OSDs are from three states and belong to four different castes. None of them is part of close family. Four of them are not from my caste or state," the Governor tweeted.
"Asking Uncleji to lay out right here what antecedents of the appointees are & how each one got into Raj Bhavan. Do it NOW. BJP IT Cell can’t get you out of this one Uncleji.. And I don’t think Vice President of India also happening for you," Moitra retorted.
"Governor's OSD is not an ordinary post. Who is Shekhawat, Diksit and Dhankhar whose names are being shown on Raj Bhavan's website? You (West Bengal Governor) have lied that you've no connection with them. He should tell how these 6 people entered Raj Bhavan?" she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
It all began on Sunday with the Governor taking to Twitter to flag the post poll situation in West Bengal. The security environment, he contended, had been seriously compromised. "In such a grim situation called upon Chief Secretary to brief me on the law and order situation on Monday 7th June and indicate all steps taken to contain post poll violence," he added.
Alongside "retributive violence", Dhankhar alleged that people were being socially boycotted and denied benefits to which they are entitled. Recently there had been allegations of the TMC circulating a notice urging shops to avoid serving BJP supporters. While the party denied any link to the list, top BJP leaders including Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had hit out at the Mamata Banerjee-led government.
"They are made to suffer “extortion fee” for living in their own house or run their own business," the Governor alleged. In follow-up tweets he accused state functionaries of not recognising the issue or taking steps to counter it.
Moitra was quick to respond, telling Dhankhar that the situation in the state would improve if he was no longer the Governor. She also put forth a few suggestions that did not go down well with the administrator.
