Kolkata, Nearly a month after his visit to Siliguri in north Bengal raised political temperatures, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will tour the remote Sundarbans in the state’s southern part on Monday, amid a series of run-ins between him and the Mamata Banerjee government.
According to the Raj Bhavan, Dhankhar will visit Dhamakhali in the 24 Parganas North and Sajnekhali in the 24 Parganas South districts and meet people’s representatives, senior administrative and the police and the Border Security Force (BSF) officials.
As per the itinerary announced by the Raj Bhavan, the Governor would arrive at the Dhamakhali Zilla Parishad guest house on morning and hold the interactive session for which the Basirhat Lok Sabha member Nusrat Jahan, the Sabhadhipati of the North 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad, MLA of the Sandeshkhali constituency, besides Divisional Commissioner of the Presidency Division, DM of the North 24-Parganas and senior police officers have been invited.
After the interactive session, the governor will visit Sajnakhali WBTDC guest house in the afternoon.
Among those invited for the interactive session there are Joynagar Lok Sabha member Pratima Mondal, the Sabhadhipati of South 24-Parganas Zilla Parishad, as also the MLA of the Gosaba constituency, the Divisional Commissioner of the Presidency Division, the District Magistrate of the South 24-Parganas, administrative and police officers.
The additional Director General and Inspector General of the BSF have been invited for both the meetings.
Dhankhar will also visit Sajnakhali Forest Beat and nearby areas after the interaction and return to Raj Bhavan the same day.
On September 24, Dhankhar had gone to Siliguri on his first visit outside the state capital Kolkata after taking over as the Governor
However, senior government functionaries, including Tourism Minister Gautam Deb and Home Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay skipped a meeting called by Dhankhar, who said it was a “cause of worry” as it didn’t fit with the culture of the state.
The Trinamool Congress had hit back with TMC Secretary General Partha Chatterjee accusing Dhankhar of making “politically biased statements” and “interfering in all respects of government business” and called for “silence”.
Only four days back, Dhankhar had alleged he was “blacked out” during the October 11 Kolkata Durga carnival, hosted by the state administration, and termed it “an unusual kind of censorship, reminiscent of the Emergency”.
The first stand-off happened over the Governor’s visit to the Jadavpur University to “rescue” Babul Supriyo, which the TMC called “most unfortunate and shocking”.
The governor also raised the killing of three members of a family in Murshidabad district’s Jiaganj.
