TMC MLAs protest in Assembly over 'delay' by Guv to clear bill

The discontent in the TMC over West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for allegedly "withholding" his nod to several bills echoed in the Assembly on Tuesday with the party MLAs staging a protest.

The TMC lawmakers slammed Dhankhar over the delay in clearing the bills and demanded his removal.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee told the house that all the queries of the governor have been duly addressed by the government.

Speaker Biman Banerjee said all the queries by Dhankhar have been duly addressed by the assembly.

However, the governor refuted the charge and said it was the state government which had delayed in answering his queries.

Later in the afternoon a Raj Bhavan statement said the Governor sent a message to the speaker for consideration with respect to the West Bengal State Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Bill, 2019 by the legislature.

The legislators, including the ministers, claimed that the governor was "withholding" important bills, which needed to be tabled in the Assembly for discussion.

"Is this the way a governor functions? He is not allowing the state assembly to run properly. Since last week, we have not been able to discuss any new bill as the governor is not giving his nod.

"The SC & ST Commission bill, among other legislations, is waiting for his clearance," Tapas Roy, minister of state for parliamentary affairs, said.

"Despite speaking to the governor the bills didn't get the nod. We have duly addressed all his queries but nothing has moved forward," Chatterjee, who is also the TMC secretary general, told the house.

Dhankhar has been at loggerheads with the TMC government over a number of issues, since assuming charge as the governor of West Bengal.

The relation between the ruling party and the governor hit a new low after Speaker Biman Banerjee last week adjourned the House for two days as bills slated to be placed in the Assembly were yet to get his nod.

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