Birbhum Violence: WB Guv Dhankhar Summons Mamata Over 'Cliff Hanging Governance'

A week after violence shook Birbhum district, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday, 28 March, invited Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to meet him at the Raj Bhawan in order to discuss the "worsening law and order in the state."

"Recent alarmingly worrisome developments, reflecting increased lawlessness and violence, make it imperative that you spare time at the earliest for an interaction at Raj Bhavan," Dhankhar wrote in a letter Banerjee.

"Already cliff hanging governance in the state, from the perspective of Constitution and law, has recently been further strained by horrifying incidents of barbarity at Rampurhat and in the hallowed precincts of the Assembly."

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar

Nine people died after violence broke out in West Bengal's Birbhum district on 21 March, wherein nearly 10-12 houses were set ablaze amid protests over the alleged murder of a leader from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) named Bhadu Sheikh.

Protests by the Opposition over the incident had also triggered fist fights in the West Bengal Assembly on Monday, 28 March.

"I am concerned at your public statement to 'hit the streets in protest' if the CBI probe is not in tune with your thought process... any recourse thereof has to be lawful and not on streets," Governor Dhankhar stated in the letter.

WB Guv Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has invited Chief Minister Smt. Mamata Bannerjee for interaction during the week at Raj Bhawan to deliberate worsening law and order in the state, particularly in view of alarmingly worrisome developments #RampurhatViolence & State Legislature. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/PNejmUwa8s

— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) March 29, 2022

Banerjee on Sunday had said her government would cooperate with the CBI probe into the Birbhum violence but that her party would hit the streets if the central agency was found to colluding with the BJP.

In a letter written on 23 March, Dhankhar had accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "adopting diversionary tactics" and shielding those guilty in the incidence of violence recorded in the Birbhum district of the state.

"Nothing can be more farcical than your claim "our state is always peaceful, barring a few sporadic incidents"," the governor had asserted in the letter.