A BJP Leader Does Not Have the Courtesy to Return a Salutation, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Guv

Kolkata: Amidst the ongoing controversy over the absence of pleasantries between Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in the Assembly, the West Bengal chief minister on Thursday hit out at him saying that "a BJP leader has come to Bengal who does not even have the courtesy to return a salutation".

The acrimony between Dhankhar and the TMC government was on show at the special session of the House on Constitution Day on Tuesday when he and Banerjee shared the dais for the first time but did not exchange greetings and instead preferred to hit out at each other.

Dhankhar had on Wednesday said that he has high regard for Banerjee and will never compromise on extending courtesy to anyone.

"There have been governors with whom I have worked as chief minister since 2011. I never had any problem with K N Tripathi and had a good working relation with him. But now a BJP leader (Dhankhar) has come to the state who does not even have the courtesy to return a salutation," Banerjee told a Bengali news channel.

Tripathi, a veteran BJP leader, had been the governor of the state from 2014 to July 2019. Dhankhar has succeeded him.

The chief minister, who had earlier termed Dhankhar as a "BJP mouthpiece", said, "He is bad-mouthing us inside the Assembly. I wish him (Dhankhar) good health and prosperity in his life and career".

Continuing with her criticism of the governor, she said, "I think everybody should maintain courtesy. I have been elected to the Parliament seven times and have won the Assembly election twice. I too maintain it when I meet leaders of opposition parties both in Kolkata and Delhi".

The governor and the TMC government have been locked in bitter exchange of words on a number of issues ranging from the seating arrangement for Dhankhar at the Durga Puja carnival, to comments on his security detail ever since he rushed to Jadavpur University to "rescue" Union minister Babul Supriyo, who was heckled and manhandled by students.

A tussle had also erupted over the state government's refusal to provide a helicopter to Dhankhar to travel to Farakka in Murshidabad district and Santiniketan in Birbhum district.