Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has sought information from the state government on alleged misused of public funds on anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) advertisements in print and electronic media.
“The Governor observed that the advertisement is a political agenda of the ruling party in the state and violation of law and funnelling of huge public funds for this issue,” the Governor’s office said in a February 4 letter sent to the Information and Cultural Affairs Department.
In the letter, Dhankhar took exception to the spending of "crores of rupees" on advertisements with a tagline "No CAA, No NRC, No NPR". Concerns were also raised about the involvement of senior administrative and police functionaries, including the chief and home secretaries and the DGP, in the ads that appeared by the side of the chief minister.
“Many persons have suggested to the Governor that the object of the advertisement is to generate a mission mode/reaction of the ruling political dispensation at the cost of public exchequer… They have also raised alarm at such misuse of public fund for furthering the political strategy or prospects of the ruling party,” the letter added.
The Governor has sought details about who sanctioned the advertisements, the amount so far paid and due to paid, current status of the advertisement and names and details of the officials that are seen in the advertisement.
Dhankhar became the Governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and since then he has got into a series of issues with the state government over law and order, education, legislative and administrative matters.
However, the standoff between Dhankhar and the ruling government has intensified in recent months.
He had repeatedly cautioned the West Bengal government that funds from the state exchequer cannot be used for advertisements backing an agitation against a valid law. The Calcutta High Court had also subsequently asked the state government to suspend all such advertisements.
A senior leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress, who did not wish to be named, hit out at the governor for crossing his "constitutional brief". "The governor, from the very beginning, has been trying to interfere in matters of the state government. This is completely absurd that he is seeking details (on the alleged misuse of public funds)," the TMC leader told PTI.
Earlier, on many occasions the Governor faced criticism from TMC leaders for crossing his constitutional limits. Even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee without naming him, had said that he is working like a BJP spokesperson.
Recently, in an unprecedented incident, Dhankhar was forced to leave Nazrul Mancha after facing ‘Go Back Slogans’ by Calcutta University (CU) students before the convocation ceremony. Earlier, on December 24, 2019, Dhankhar was forced to leave Jadavpur University (JU) as administrative officials in the ‘Court Meeting’ had decided to go ahead with the Convocation without him due to anti-Governor protests from a section of students and teaching staffs.
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