Two Central Government teams visited hospitals and quarantine centers set up in Bengal. The state recorded 58 new cases on Thursday.
Later in the afternoon, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to Raj Bhawan.
“You appear to have forgotten that I am an elected Chief Minister of a proud Indian state. You also seem to have forgotten that you are a nominated Governor,” she wrote. In her letter, she further added that Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s “tone , tenor and language, which in the mildest words of extreme moderation, deserve to be characterised as unparliamentary”.
The letter came after the Governor accused the state government of mismanaging the COVID-19 crisis in Bengal. He had also alleged a scam in the public distribution system and said it had been hijacked by leaders from the ruling Trinamool Congress.
A communication @MamataOfficial has been received.
Outrageously factually wrong and constitutionally infirm.
My initial response will be shared with media around 7.45 PM today.
And a final one tomorrow at 11 am.
People of the state need to know the real picture.
— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) April 23, 2020
Minutes after the letter, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar tweeted calling the communication “outrageously factually wrong and constitutionally infirm”.
Initial Response @MamataOfficial. Final one tomorrow. People need to know all. State and people cannot be made to suffer at the hands of those who compromise constitutional prescriptions. None is above Law. pic.twitter.com/FA3jIFpipy
— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) April 23, 2020
In the evening, Governor Dhankar responded to the CM’s letter saying, “I need to indicate firmly that there has been total failure at your end all through as regards compliance of constitutional prescriptions qua the constitutional head.”
In his April 24 letter, Dhankhar had said the state was passing through severe and stressful times because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He claimed that despite repeated pleas for interaction with the government on the issue, only the states chief secretary had met him once.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary Rahul Sinha termed Banerjee’s letter to Dhankhar as “utmost unfortunate”.
(Internet inputs)