West Bengal: Mamata expresses concerns over Governor's statements criticising state govt, Dhankar replies

The row between West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and chief minister Mamata Banerjee took a fresh turn on Monday with the latter writing a letter expressing concern over tweets and statements made by him criticizing the state government.

In her letter, Banerjee said that the state administration was trying to put an end to violence in the state.

"Really sorry to see your frequent tweets and press briefings criticizing the state government and also involving the senior officers of the state," Banerjee's letter to Dhankar read.

"You would no doubt appreciate that the prime focus of the state administration is to maintain the peaceful situation as against what is going on throughout the country," the letter added.

Meanwhile, Dhankar replied to the Chief Minister by stating that he wanted to be informed about the steps being taken by the administration to restore peace in West Bengal.

"Even on the current critical situation in the State, I have not been briefed by the state government. I would like that we in tandem, in larger public interest work so that people of West Bengal get respite from violence and peace is restored," the Governor said in his reply.

On Sunday internet was suspended in some parts of the districts of Uttar Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Howrah, North 24 Parganas ( Basirhat and Barasat subdivisions) and South 24 Parganas ( Baruipur and Canning subdivisions).

This came amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in several parts of West Bengal.

The Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.