New Delhi: A day after West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and said that the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy and can't see the "trampling of human rights", Mamata Banerjee blocked governor Dhankhar from her Twitter account.
Speaking to the media in Kolkata on Monday, CM Mamata Banerjee said, she has "blocked" Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's Twitter account and accused him of "tapping phones" and "threatening" officials.
"I apologise for it in advance. He (Jagdeep Dhankhar) tweets something every day abusing me or my officers. Says unconstitutional, unethical things. He instructs not advises. Treats an elected government like bonded labour. That's why I have blocked him from my Twitter account. I was getting irritated," said Mamata Banerjee at the press conference.
Banerjee also said that she has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a number of times for the removal of Dhankhar but "no action has been taken" in this regard.
Soon after Mamata Banerjee made the statement, Jagdeep Dhankhar took to Twitter to condemn the move. He posted a screenshot of Article 159 of the Constitution which lays down the functions of a Governor.
In another tweet, Dhankhar said CM Mamata Banerjee is "constitutionally ordained to discharge a duty under Article 167 of the constitution to impart information on Pandemic Purchase Scam and other issues".
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has been a staunch critique of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party Trinamool Congress over the law and order situation in the state. He has often taken to Twitter to express his displeasure over issues.
In his latest attack on the Chief Minister, Dhankhar on Sunday said that insults will not bog him down to perform his duties.
"I cannot see the hallowed land of Bengal getting blood-drenched (in violence) and becoming a laboratory for the trampling of human rights. People are saying that the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy," Dhankhar said in his Twitter post.