Kolkata: Returning from the annual convocation of Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan, West Bengal Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, on Monday paid a surprise visit to the office of the block development officer (BDO) of Singur sub-division in Hoogly district.
Around 4:30pm, Dhankhar went to the BDO’s office in Singur but could not find anyone. He sat on the BDO’s chair and asked for him. One of the officials told him that Partha Banerjee, the BDO, along with other senior officials, has gone for a meeting.
“Who is in-charge now? Someone must be there,” Dhankhar asked.
The governor’s unscheduled visit took the district administration in Singur by surprise and a section of local people started gathering in front of the BDO office.
Later, while interacting with the media, Dhankhar said, “Paying visit to places which fall on the way to your destination is always more convenient than making a separate visit. Yesterday, while going to Santiniketan, I had a stopover at Burdwan and Durgapur. I had interacted with people there. After that, I decided to visit Singur while coming back from Santiniketan. As the Governor of this state, it is my duty to serve the people of West Bengal. It is my duty to connect with the people. Therefore, I came here.”
Reacting to the governor’s visit, senior Trinamool Congress leader and state Power Minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee said, "I wonder whether the governor understands his position. He keeps on visiting various administrative offices without informing the state government".
While Dhankhar was addressing the media, one of the local youths complained that people of Singur were badly affected after Tata Nano factory was moved to Gujarat due to the land movement of the Trinamool Congress. He requested the governor to look in to the matter and demanded that a factory should be built there for the betterment of local youth.
After Dhankhar left, the BDO officials present at that time revealed that the governor wanted to know more about the land movement which took place in Singur in 2008.
On September 23, 2008, the Tatas decided to leave Singur after months of protest by the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who was in opposition at that time. On October 3, 2008, the departure became official when Ratan Tata announced the same in a press conference in Kolkata.
Dhankhar’s visit has angered the ruling TMC, as they allege that he is violating his post. Singur holds a special place for TMC and Mamata Banerjee, as it was in this town that she got huge political mileage, which ultimately helped her to become the chief minister by ousting the Left front government in 2011.
TMC and Dhankhar have been locked in a war of words over various issues for quite some time now.
On September 19, 2019, the governor faced criticism from TMC for visiting and rescuing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babul Supriyo, who faced strong protest by the students of Jadavpur University (JU) after he went there to attend an event organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
A few days later on September 24, 2019, Dhankhar visited Siliguri to inaugurate the newly constructed building of Indian Chamber of Commerce. He had expressed his desire to interact with the district administration, the MP and the local MLAs of Darjeeling. However, most of them stayed away from the meeting, citing ‘unavoidable reason’.
“I will look forward to connecting with them in future. Not only in Siliguri, I will be going to all the districts in West Bengal. It does not matter who will come to meet me and who will not. I am not in a political circus,” the governor had said, adding, ‘I don’t take decisions based on colour and complexion.”
He faced a similar situation at North and South 24 Parganas, where administrative officials, MLSs and MPs expressed their inability to attend his administrative meetings without the permission of the state government.
On October 11, 2019, the situation turned even bitterer during the Durga Puja carnival in Kolkata when Dhankar accused that he was sidelined and not shown on television during the carnival.
Speaking to the media persons at the National Library in Kolkata, Dhankar had said, “What has hurt me and hurt my heart very deeply is the treatment meted out. For four hours and more I was there (at the Durga Puja carnival) and your first servant (referring to him) was totally blacked out.”
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