Bengal governor pans Mamata over COVID-19 handling, minority appeasement

(EDS: Adds inputs)

Kolkata April 24 () West Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar mounted a fresh assault on Chief Minister MamataBanerjee over her monumental failure in tackling the COVID-19 crisis that resulted in "incremental spread" of thepandemic.

He also accused her of "explicitly appeasing" theminority community, while referring to the Tablighi Jamaatcongregation in New Delhi, which has often been blamed forthe spurt in the noval coronavirus cases.

Dhankhar was responding to Banerjees missive onThursday where she accused him of "repeatedly interfering" inthe functioning of her government and reminded him she is theelected chief minister of a proud state and he a nominatedgovernor.

Dhankhar said the chief minister's "outburst" is analibi strategy to cover up "monumental failures" in tacklingthe COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

Urging the TMC supremo "to shun politics andconfrontational approach", Dhankhar said her conduct is onlycompounding the miseries of the people.

"Your communication is part of the alibi strategy thatemanates from a script that seeks to cover up monumentalfailures in these challenging times by a series of blunders,"the governor said in his second letter to Banerjee after herThursday letter set off acrimonious exchanges between the twoconstitutional functionaries.

"Your appeasement of the minority community was soexplicit and awkward on the Nizamuddin Markaz incident...Thisis most unfortunate and cannot be appreciated," he said,referring to an event where Banerjee was asked to comment onthe Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the national capital.

Banerjee had then reportedly told the journalist notto ask "communal questions".

Referring to the controversy over actual COVID figuresin the state, he said the approach in dealing with the crisishas shamed the state nationally and globally.

There awaits a catastrophe, if the health care systemis persistently ignored, if the COVID cases increasinglycoming to hospitals are consistently denied and suppressed, ifthe quarantine facilities remain for namesake, if tests arenot allowed honestly, if the health workers are treatedinhumanly, if the already politicised PDS is thrown open forwild loot by unscrupulous people," he wrote.

He asked Banerjee to disable her political antenna,shun confrontationist approach and be in action mode.

In the letter replete with barbs, Dhankhar said thecivil administration and police have been emasculated as aconsequence of their politicisation and that the human rightsof those who do not belong to the ruling party are undervirtual suspension.

Taking a swipe at Banerjee for visiting various partsof the city and advising people to stay indoors, he said,real-time action on the part of the state government is neededand not theatrics or politicking.

Please ask those who may pick courage to show themirror- how sagacious is it for CM to take mike and broom dayafter day in this grim situation, he wrote.

Dhankhar said Banerjee is engaging in her favouritepastime of being in an accusatory mode but the streetfighter approach is counterproductive and has the potentialto spell disaster for the people.

He also referred to the unwholesome scenario thecentral teams that arrived in the state to take stock of theCOVID-19 situation faced, and added your cover up mechanismwill lead to very painful consequences.

The governor slammed the governments decision to banmobile phones inside isolation wards, saying Time to revealthe real picture so that our fight against the coronavirus maybe enhanced and sharpened.

The face-off between the West Bengal government andRaj Bhavan had escalated on Thursday, with Banerjee accusingDhankhar of repeatedly interfering in the functioning of thestate administration, and the latter asserting a state cannotbe governed as a personal fiefdom.

At daggers drawn for the last several months, the twowent for each others jugular with Banerjee shooting off aletter to Dhankhar in the backdrop of his recent criticism ofthe government over the way the state was tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. PNT SKSK SK