The political slugfest between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is increasing with each passing day. Today, in a new twist to the governor versus chief minister fight in Bengal, Mamata Banerjee raised corruption charges for the first time. The chief minister alleged that the governor had been charged in the 1996 Jain hawala case, involving a dairy that named politicians who had received kickbacks. The increasing animosity between the TMC government and the governor is going out of control. It specially portrays the office of the governor in poor light.
The CM and the governor have fought almost constantly in their three-year working relationship, ever since Dhankhar (70) took office. Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress accuse Dhankhar of bias and of brazenly pushing the agenda of the BJP government at the Centre. Governor Dhankar has behaved more like a BJP opposition leader than a person holding a constitutional post. He has made no attempt to exhibit neutrality which is expected of the governor. Since the BJP came to power at the Centre, it has posted people with political ambitions as governors in the opposition-ruled states. This has often led to friction between the ruling government and the governor. In many states, including in Arunachal, the role of the governor came under scanner for toppling the ruling government. The BJP is hurting the office of the governor in their pursuit for power. This may come back to haunt them in the future.