Minister's criticism of Governor unconstitutional: CPI(M)

Terming the criticism of Governor M K Narayanan by West Bengal Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee as unconstitutional, opposition leader Surya Kanta Mishra on Friday said Mukherjee's comments was a part of the competition going among the ministers to please Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"Yesterday Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee has said that now the governor is being shown yellow card, later on he may be also shown red card. This shows their arrogance. A minister is appointed by governor after consultation with Chief minister," Mishra said at a rally here.

"A minister can never criticize governor, it is unconstitutional. A political party sometimes does it, they can because they have their own political agenda but a minister can never do it. The state government ministers are totally unaware of constitutional norms," Mishra said. Mukherjee had yesterday slammed Narayanan for his comments that 'goondaism' 'was going on in the state and had said that such comments from the governor would would act as instigation.

"It is not that he (Mukherjee) is unaware of these constitutional norms. But he is more interested in placating the chief minister as a rat race is going on among the cabinet members to please Chief minister. It is unfortunate for democracy," he said.