Neither 'rubber-stamp', nor 'post office': Guv's swipe at TMC

Asserting that he was following the Constitution, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Wednesday that he was neither a "rubber-stamp" nor a "post office", after the ruling Trinamool Congress blamed him for the abrupt adjournment of the assembly.

The rancour between the ruling dispensation and the governor hit a new low after Speaker Biman Banerjee Tuesday adjourned the House for two days as bills slated to be placed in the assembly were yet to get his nod, which was necessary.

The claim was refuted by the Raj Bhavan, which in a statement termed the situation "factually untenable".

"As Governor I follow the script and tune of the Constitution and cannot blindly take a call. I am neither a rubber-stamp nor a post office," Dhankhar said in a tweet.

"I am obligated to scrutinise the bills in the light of the Constitution and act without delay. Concerned at delay by government on this," he added.

The House will remain adjourned till December 5 and the Winter Session will resume on December 6 at 11 am, it was announced.

The bills which were scheduled to be placed won't be tabled as they are yet to receive the nod of the governor, the speaker had said in the Assembly.

"We had sent those bills for printing but can't place them in the Assembly as they are yet to get the nod," he had said.