TMC questions Governor decision on special cell

On Friday, the Governor had a discussion with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about the incident. He also took a detailed report from the West Bengal Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi and the state home secretary B P Gopalika about the situation in Howrah. Later during the day, Bose issued a statement announcing his decision to set up a special monitoring cell.

“The Governor has ordered real-time monitoring of the situation and constituted a special cell for the same,” read a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan on Friday.

Reacting to the move, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said there was confusion over the announcement. “We don’t know whether such a cell can be set up by the Raj Bhavan. We don’t know whether there is any legal provision for the same. However, even if the cell procures information from independent or private sources, there will remain doubts whether the information received was authentic or not,” said Ghosh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to target the ruling party and justified the move by the Governor. “As the constitutional head of the state, it is the duty of the Governor to protect the democratic rights of the people of the state. Therefore, he is well within his limits to order the setting up of the cell. It is also within his limits to seek reports of the situation from the state chief secretary and state home secretary,” said BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters outside Bagdogra Airport in north Bengal on Saturday, Bose said the situation in Howrah was under control and the special cell was monitoring things closely. “The situation is under control. The police are monitoring. Raj Bhavan has constituted a special cell for real-time monitoring. Normalcy has come back. Shops have started opening. The situation is under a watch. All necessary steps will be taken to see that there is no recurrence of such incidents in future,” the Governor said.