West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has invited him and his wife at her Kolkata residence on the occasion of Kali Puja. The puja will be held on Sunday. The development comes at a time when the relationship between the Governor and the State Government has become strained over several issues.

According to a release issued by the Raj Bhavan, the Governor had written to the Chief Minister expressing his desire to meet her along with his wife on the occasion of Bhatridwitiya (popularly known as Bhai Phonta) on October 29. The bond between brother and sister is celebrated on the occasion of Bhatridwitiya.

“The Hon’ble Governor Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar is delighted that the Hon’ble Chief Minister, upon her return from North Bengal, has indicated vide her communication dated 24.10.2019 that the Hon’ble Governor and Smt. Dhankhar are welcome to visit her residence on the evening of 27.10.2019 on the auspicious occasion of Kali Puja,” stated the release.

It further stated that the Chief Minister in her letter to the Governor on October 24 that for the last 30 years she has been preoccupied with communal harmony on the occasion of Bhatridwitiya.

“In the Nation, all of us need to work both for harmony and communal harmony and the Hon’ble Governor would interact on this issue with the Hon’ble Chief Minister,” it added.

Earlier in the day speaking to journalists the Governor indicated that with the latest gesture of the Chief Minister the possibility of improving the relationship between the Raj Bhavan and the State Government has increased.

“ With this gesture of the Chief Minister I don’t think that I have to answer any further questions,” said Dhankhar.

The Governor’s relationship with the state government became strained when he went to Jadavpur University during the alleged heckling of Union Minister Babul Supriyo. He criticised the state government several times afterwards over issues such as law and order and absence of government officials from his administrative meetings in the district. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government has also accused him of indulging in political gimmickry.