Fresh verbal duel between Mamata & Bengal guv over citizenship stir

A fresh war of words ensued between Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday as she expressed shock over his regular diatribes at the West Bengal government and urged him to cooperate in maintaining peace instead of "aggravating" the situation.

The governor responded with a sharp riposte by saying he was deeply pained by the "unwarranted tangential approach" adopted by Banerjee and urged her to work in tandem and togetherness in public interest and engage in "soul searching".

In the wake of ongoing protests across the state against the contentious Citizenship Act, Dhankhar had summoned the director general of police and chief secretary to brief him on the situation.

After the two failed to turn, the governor asked Banerjee on Monday to personally update him on the situation.

Reacting to it, Banerjee wrote to Dhankhar in the evening and expressed her shock over a person holding a gubernatorial post criticising the state government on a regular basis..

"I am really sorry to see your frequent tweets and press briefings criticising the state government and also involving the senior officers of the state," Banerjee wrote to Dhankhar.

"You would no doubt appreciate that the prime focus of the state administration at present is to maintain peaceful situation as against what is going throughout the country," she said.

"The constitutional obligation in my view is to support the state government machinery to maintain peace and harmony rather than aggravating the situation by provoking elements who may attempt to disturb the order and tranquillity," Banerjee said. "Please cooperate to maintain peace."