WB: CM Mamata, Guv Dhankhar exchange pleasantries; hold meeting

Amid the acrimony between the Trinamool Congress government and the Raj Bhavan, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar exchanged pleasantries with each other in the Assembly on Friday.

Dhankhar arrived at the assembly at 2 pm to deliver his customary address before the budget session and was greeted by the chief minister and Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee.

The governor averted a showdown by not deviating from the speech prepared by the Mamata Banerjee government for his customary address to the Assembly at the beginning of the session.

Dhankhar's adherence to the speech came a day after he said in Santiniketan that as the constitutional head of the state he was within his right to make suggestions and had hoped those would be incorporated in his speech.

This had raised speculation that he might follow Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan who had injected in his address a disclaimer for the portions he did not agree with.

Governor Dhankhar's speech reflected the policies and programmes of the TMC government as he said "intolerance, bigotry and hatred" are the "new norms in the country" and "rejection of all forms of dissent is the new fashion in the name of patriotism".

At the end of his speech, he walked up to the chief minister's seat and exchanged pleasantries with her. Later Dhankhar held a meeting with Mamata Banerjee and the Speaker at the latter's chamber in the Assembly premises.

This is the first time that Dhankhar after delivering his address held a meeting with Mamata Banerjee and Biman Banerjee which lasted for half an hour.