West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Blocks Governor Jagdeep Dhankar On Twitter After ‘Gas Chamber’ Comment. Can Indian Politicians Please Grow TF Up?
I’ve never been a fan of political feuds on social media but it’s not practical to turn a blind eye to everything. I’ve never really understood the point of Twitter wars and it’s much worse when public figures end up blocking each other (rightly so, in some cases). And this is one such situation. Recently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in a press conference, revealed that she has blocked Governor Jagdeep Dhankar on Twitter. Well, it looks like these two will not be patching up anytime soon. Though I’m not one to take sides, I do believe that there are some lines that we all should not cross and the Bengal Governor practically raced past that line. This move comes a day after Governor Dhankar slammed the CM for “not abiding by the Constitution” while urging her to engage in a conversation with him. He went as far as claiming that the state had become a “gas chamber of democracy”.
"I have been forced to block Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Twitter. Everyday he was issuing tweets targeting and threatening govt officials as if we're his bonded labourers," says West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
(File pic) pic.twitter.com/gwTTY2nBzc
— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2022
Here’s what happened after. In a press conference on Monday, the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee apologised and shared that she has blocked Governor Jagdeep Dhankar on Twitter as has been abusing her and her officer via his tweets every other day while adding that he says ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘unethical’ things. She further added that he has been attempting to instruct the government instead of simply guiding and giving advice and treating the elected government like ‘bonded labour’ which irritated her to the point that she was forced to block the Governor. In fact, the West Bengal CM also accused Jagdeep Dhankar of ‘tapping phones’ and ‘threatening’ government officials. Mamata Banerjee further informed the media that she has written several letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with regards to Governor Jagdeep Dhankar’s behaviour.
In response to her statement, the West Bengal Governor took to Twitter to take a dig at the Chief Minister while spelling out the functions of a Governor as per the Indian Constitution. Take a look at these tweets.
https://twitter.com/jdhankhar1/status/1488113939741167619?s=20&t=RlkNEzEmd_dQok1lE9JiGA
https://twitter.com/jdhankhar1/status/1488123872633188354?s=20&t=RlkNEzEmd_dQok1lE9JiGA
FYI, on Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary on January 30, Jagdeep Dhankar had attacked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led government. While speaking to the media the Governor had said that the state of West Bengal is getting ‘drenched in violence’ and becoming a place where human rights are trampled. He went on to add that “the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy”. He further added that the state lacks a rule of law and only the ‘ruler rules here’ while adding that it is his job to protect the Indian Constitution and nothing will deter him from doing the same.
Well, everything being said and done, I do not agree with this childish behaviour of our Indian politicians blocking each other on social media instead of talking to each other. But at the same time, I’m also not okay with the Governor attacking the Chief Minister on a public platform and terming the state ‘gas chamber of democracy’. I really wish our Indian leaders would stop airing their dirty laundry in public.
First Published: January 31, 2022 6:40 PM
